Waipahu student describes alleged assaults by teacher

A 17-year-old Waipahu High School senior testified Monday that English teacher and track and cross-country coach Erik Y. Tamura molested her during her sophomore and junior years, slapping and grabbing her rear end and poking and flicking her breasts.

Honolulu District Judge Leslie Hayashi, at the conclusion of a preliminary hearing, ordered Tamura to stand trial on three counts of third-degree sexual assault.

Tamura, 37, remains free on $30,000 bail. His lawyers said he is on paid leave from his job pending the outcome of an administrative investigation into the girl’s allegations.

The girl testified that Tamura touched her breasts and rear end at least twice a week on school grounds. She said Tamura flicked her breast and slapped her rear so hard it hurt, causing her to cry in pain and to pull away.

On one occasion in her home, she said Tamura pulled her shorts and underwear down and touched her crotch.

The girl said she was walking home during spring break in 2010 when Tamura offered her a ride. When they reached her home, she said Tamura asked her if anybody else was home. When she said no, she said Tamura invited himself in.

She said she was lying down while using her computer when Tamura lay down next to her and put his head on her rear end. To get him to take his head off, she said she rolled over.

The girl said Tamura asked her if she had pubic hair and she said yes. Tamura asked if he could see it, she said. After she told Tamura no, he grabbed and pulled down the front of her shorts and underwear and began touching her bare crotch with his finger, she testified.

She said she told Tamura to stop and rolled over again so he couldn’t touch her crotch anymore.

The girl said she felt angry and frustrated about what Tamura was doing to her but didn’t tell anyone about it because she didn’t know whom to tell, that she still needed Tamura to coach her and because Tamura is a family friend.

"I didn’t want to deal with the drama that came after it," she said.

After hearing from other girls that Tamura was doing the same thing to them, the girl said she told another coach last September or October about what was happening to her. She said she also told another teacher at the school but that the teacher "didn’t seem to want to have anything to do with it."

The girl said she also had a meeting with the school’s vice principal and athletic director before talking to a police detective.

During her testimony Monday, the girl mentioned other incidents when Tamura allegedly molested her, including on an airplane and during the summer before her senior year in high school, for which Tamura is not charged.