Rapist sues over work furlough denial

A man known as the Manoa Rapist is suing state Department of Public Safety Director Ted Sakai and Corrections Division head Max Otani for refusing to let the inmate enter the department’s work furlough program.

John Freudenberg, 54, became known as the Manoa Rapist after he was arrested and charged with a long string of home break-ins and sexual assaults that occurred over a 14-month span in the early 1980s.

Freudenberg pleaded guilty in 1983 to seven counts of rape and attempted rape, five counts of sodomy and attempted sodomy, 19 counts of burglary and attempted burglary, and six counts of sexual abuse. He was sentenced in 1984 to 12 life prison terms and multiple 20- and 10-year prison terms.

That same year the Hawaii Paroling Authority told Freudenberg he had to spend at least 20 years of his sentence behind bars before he could be eligible for parole. In 1990 the parole board reduced his minimum to 14 years.

The suit claims Freudenberg’s rights under the U.S. Constitution’s Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments have been violated.

Since 1996, Freudenberg says, the HPA has repeatedly recommended him for work furlough as a precursor to release on parole but that Sakai, Otani and their predecessors have continually denied him entry into the program.

Freudenberg claims in his suit that Sakai told him in an April 2013 letter that he could consider Freudenberg’s admission to work furlough only after the DPS made unspecified changes or improvements to the program.

And Freudenberg claims that Otani told him in an August 2013 letter that his request for work furlough would be considered only once the staff and program were proper and/or had stabilized.

Sakai said Wednesday that his department last year expanded the work furlough program, which allows participants to go into the community to work or look for work during the day while serving their prison terms, but requires them to return to the Laumaka Work Furlough Center at night.

"We had 96 slots there. And because of the need, we had a lot of backup. So we expanded it, and now we have a capacity of 216 work furlough," Sakai said.

But none of the slots went to Freudenberg. Freudenberg’s lawyer Myles Breiner said that is because "they’re taking the position that Freudenberg is in a special category. He’s not."

He says the department’s own statistics show that only 3 percent of felons convicted of sex crimes re-offend, the lowest rate of recidivism by far among all Hawaii convicts. And he said other sexual offenders diagnosed with greater risk have been allowed on work furlough.

Breiner said Sakai and Otani may be refusing to let Freudenberg into the work furlough program because of opposition from city Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro.

Kaneshiro says it is his duty to speak out against any actions that jeopardize public safety. "I opposed work furlough for Freudenberg because of his acts and because I believe he continues to pose a threat to the community," he said.

Breiner says Kaneshiro has, as city prosecutor and when he was DPS director in the late 1990s, taken the position over the years that Freudenberg should never be released from prison. He said that position makes an "illegal" recommendation because Freudenberg’s sentence was for life in prison with the opportunity for parole.

He said he filed Freudenberg’s lawsuit Tuesday in U.S. District Court because he doesn’t believe Freudenberg will get a fair hearing in state court.

DPS spokeswoman Toni Schwartz said the department has been advised by its lawyers to refrain from commenting on the matter because it is pending litigation.