A state judge sentenced a man accused of raping a young girl and beating up her brother for trying to stop him to five years of probation Monday, according to the terms of the man’s plea deal with the prosecutor.
Thomas K. Kamaka Jr. had been charged with four counts of first-degree sexual assault and with beating the girl’s brother. Under the terms of his plea deal, Kamaka, 43, pleaded no contest in February to four counts of second-degree sexual assault. The state dropped the charges involving the girl’s brother.
Circuit Judge Karen Ahn said Monday she was surprised with the deal.
"That’s why I asked the government to justify the agreement with the defendant. And based on what the deputy prosecuting attorney said, I, albeit reluctantly, am going to go along with that plea agreement," she said in court.
However, Ahn amended the agreement to state that the probation will be a zero-tolerance one and warned Kamaka that a violation of any of the terms of his release could be grounds for her to resentence him to up to 40 years in prison.
Deputy Prosecutor Lisa Demello said Kamaka will have to register as a convicted sex offender for the rest of his life. She also said the deal saved the victim from having to go to court to testify and see the defendant in person.
"In this case the child, her well-being and safety, was the main concern," Demello told reporters later.
Kamaka’s lawyer, Michael Green, said in court that the victim’s statements were not consistent.
"There were allegations of misconduct, there were retractions, recantations, ‘I lied, it wasn’t true,’ then it came back again, then it went away again," Green said.
Green also said the sexual assault allegations were first reported by a school official who used questionable methods to interview the girl, who is younger than 14.
The girl submitted a letter to the court for Monday’s sentencing. Demello read portions of the letter in court, including one passage in which she said Kamaka doesn’t deserve another chance and should go to jail for even one violation of his probation.
Green said he advised Kamaka not to say anything at sentencing.
However, Kamaka did say, "Sorry."
Some of the girl’s relatives showed up for Monday’s sentencing. One of them told Kamaka, "We would just like you to know that we despise everything you did to this family, and we will never forgive you for it."
