Teacher accused in sex case is suspended
A 61-year-old Maui public school teacher has been placed on unpaid leave as he awaits trial next month in Washington state on charges that he took pictures of a nude 4-year-old girl.
The state Department of Education has not completed its investigation of the incident, Maui District Superintendent Bruce Anderson said.
Whitman County prosecutors charged the teacher, Thomas T. Takeuchi, with taking the girl’s photos between July and October 2011. Takeuchi was visiting his family in Washington at the time.
The girl’s mother found the photos in the child’s camera in March and turned them over to police detectives in Pullman, Wash. Takeuchi was arrested May 22 and was charged with sexual exploitation of a minor. He pleaded not guilty June 7. His jury trial will be held Aug. 20 in Whitman County Superior Court. He was released on his own recognizance.
Takeuchi has been a social studies and science teacher at Maui High School since 1994. Classes at Maui High begin Monday. A substitute has been hired to replace Takeuchi, Anderson said.
Kauai gunman identified after killing himself
Police identified the 67-year-old Kalaheo, Kauai, man who fatally shot himself Saturday after shooting at neighbors as William Ray Seibert.
Seibert died of a self-inflicted gunshot to the head.
A 59-year-old man who witnessed Saturday’s shooting suffered a heart attack and died Monday. He was identified as Bryant Hironaka.
Hironaka was transported to Kauai Veterans Memorial Hospital on Saturday and was airlifted to the Queen’s Medical Center early Sunday in critical condition.
At about 4:15 p.m. Saturday, police said, Seibert had a handgun when he walked from his Puuwai Road home to his neighbor’s house across the street. The couple who live in the home saw Seibert approaching and ran inside their house. Seibert fired multiple shots at the couple through their front door before he turned the gun on himself. The couple was not injured.
Police seek help putting a name with man’s body
Hawaii County police are asking for help in identifying the body of a man wearing a SpongeBob SquarePants T-shirt that reads, "It’s Hip To Be Square."
Police said the body was found Thursday at Higashihara Park in Keauhou Mauka in West Hawaii.
Police say they have evidence that the dead man may be a middle-age homeless Caucasian man, who was described as 5 feet 8 to 5 feet 11 inches tall and known to frequent the Kainaliu, Kealakekua and Honalo areas.
Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Walter Ah Mow at 326-4646, ext. 238.
Anonymous tipsters may call CrimeStoppers at 961-8300 or 329-8181.
