Ex-HPD officer indicted in sex assaults

A former Honolulu police officer will appear in state court Thursday to answer to charges that he sexually assaulted an underage girl for four years.

An Oahu grand jury returned an indictment last week charging Teddy Van Lerberghe with four counts of first-degree sexual assault and three counts of third-degree sexual assault. The charges allege that the assaults happened from 2004 to 2008, when the girl was less than 14 years old.

Van Lerberghe turned himself in Thursday and posted $100,000 bail. His arraignment in state Circuit Court is scheduled for Thursday.

First-degree sexual assault is a Class A felony punishable by a mandatory 20-year prison term.

The Hawaii Paroling Authority can release a felon convicted of a Class A felony before 20 years. However, if the victim was 8 or younger, the convicted felon has to spend at least six years and eight months behind bars before he can be eligible for parole.

Third-degree sexual assault is a Class C felony. The maximum penalty is five years in prison. There is a mandatory one-year, eight-month minimum if the victim was 8 or younger.

The Honolulu Police Department says Van Lerberghe joined the department in 2007 and left in May when he was fired.