Man, 25, indicted in ‘sexting’ case

A grand jury indicted a former Niu Valley Intermediate School employee Tuesday for allegedly coaxing a 12-year-old girl to send him explicit photos in the first "sexting" case resulting in criminal charges in Hawaii, the city prosecutor’s office said.

Cody M. Onizuka, 25, an East Oahu resident and former teaching assistant at the school, was charged with possession of child pornography and violating a restraining order.

Sending sexually explicit messages or pictures over the Internet is considered sexting.

The indictment alleges Onizuka tried to establish an intimate and sexual relationship with the girl, who was a student at Niu Valley Intermediate School in early 2010.

When the girl’s mother learned that Onizuka was communicating with her daughter, she asked him to stop, the prosecutor’s office said. Onizuka did not, and the mother obtained a restraining order against him, the prosecutor’s office said.

The indictment said Onizuka continued to communicate with the girl, bought her a cellphone and had it delivered to her by a fellow student.

Onizuka then convinced the girl to take nude photographs of herself with the cellphone and transmit the images to him via text messaging, the indictment charged.

The indictment said Onizuka stored the images on a laptop computer and used them to engage in repeated episodes of "sexting" with the girl.

The prosecutor’s office said the girl’s mother found out about the episodes and called police.

A search warrant was used to retrieve the images from a computer at Onizuka’s house.

Onizuka, who worked as an intermediate school tutor, has since been dismissed by the state Department of Education.

Senior Deputy Prosecutor Christopher Van Marter said his office has reviewed other cases of sexting but has been reluctant to bring charges because both people involved were 18 years old or younger.

He said the situation was different with Onizuka.

"This one involved an adult," Van Marter said.

Onizuka will probably be arraigned next week, after he is served with the indictment, he said.