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Four-time state wrestling champion and Olympic hopeful Teshya Alo is suing the man who was convicted of sexually assaulting her when she was 14.
Alo filed a lawsuit in state court Friday against Keith T. Matsumoto, who, before his conviction for felony sexual assault, was coordinator for the Hawaii High School Athletic Association state wrestling tournament and a longtime wrestling coach. The lawsuit asks for unspecified monetary amounts for punitive damages and for negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Matsumoto, 59, declined comment through his criminal lawyer, David Hayakawa.
Hayakawa said the case is on appeal, “and we are hopeful the Supreme Court of Hawaii will reverse the conviction and order a new trial.”
The Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals rejected Matsumoto’s appeal in August. Matsumoto then appealed to the Hawaii Supreme Court, which agreed to hear his case.
A state jury found Matsumoto guilty of third-degree sexual assault in February 2014. Circuit Judge Randal Lee later sent Matsumoto to jail for six months and ordered him to perform 150 hours of community service as part of a five-year probation sentence.
Lee also prohibited Matsumoto from having any involvement in youth sports while he is on probation. The conviction requires Matsumoto to register as a convicted sex offender for the rest of his life.
Alo testified during the trial that she was in the Farrington High School gymnasium in June 2012 when Matsumoto groped her. She was competing in the Greco Roman and Freestyle Hawaii State Championships presented by Hawaii USA Wrestling but was not involved in a match at the time.
She said Matsumoto touched the front of her body from behind her, and when she pulled away he grabbed her buttocks.
A tournament official testified he saw Matsumoto grope Alo.
Matsumoto testified that he patted Alo on the rear to tell her “good job” when he passed her as she was leaning over the scoring table and even demonstrated what he did for the jurors. He said he intended to pat her on the outside of her buttock but that Alo may have turned when he touched her.
Parents were recording wrestling matches that were going on at the time, but none of them recorded Matsumoto touching Alo.
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