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COURTESY HONOLULU POLICE DEPARTMENT
Kendrick Padilla
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A Kapolei High School counselor pleaded not guilty Thursday to a charge of soliciting a minor for prostitution.
Kendrick Padilla, 39, was arraigned before Circuit Judge Richard Perkins, who set his trial for the week of July 18.
Padilla also requested permission to leave the state from May 28 to June 5 to visit his grandmother on the East Coast. He is free after posting bail of $10,000.
The prosecutor’s office said Padilla met the minor girl, who was a runaway, after she posted an advertisement for herself on the Internet under a fictitious name.
When the girl arrived at Padilla’s home, he asked the girl whether she recognized him, the prosecutor’s office said. Padilla told the girl that he was her former high school counselor.
According the the indictment, Padilla solicited the girl from March 23 to April 4.
The girl was later caught in an undercover sting and taken to the juvenile detention facility in Kapolei, where she told a counselor about her encounter with Padilla. The counselor reported the matter to police, the prosecutor’s office said.
Solicitation of a minor for prostitution is a Class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison.