Former Kamehameha Schools faculty member gets prison time for sexual assault of student

A Honolulu judge sentenced a former Kamehameha Schools faculty member to prison today after he was convicted of multiple counts of sex assault involving a 14-year-old student.

Circuit Court Judge Fa’auuga To’oto’o sentenced James Maeda, assistant band director at the Kapalama campus, to a 10 year-term for 10 counts of second-degree sex assault and a five-year term for one count of third-degree sex assault. The terms are to run concurrently.

“I’d like to express my deepest and sincerest apologies to my victim and her family,” Maeda said during today’s sentencing.

Maeda, 25, said that over the past year he has been involved in sex-offender treatment and attending Bible studies at his church.

“This has allowed me to gain a deeper and more complete understanding of how my actions have negatively affected my victim,” he said. “Because of that, I can stand here confident today and say that I completely regret my actions and I wish I can take them back. Not because of the consequences I will be facing but because of the unintended consequences my victim has and will face.”

The assaults occurred on four occasions between June 2017 to February 2018, mostly on campus. Police arrested Maeda in February 2018.

In a September plea agreement, Maeda pleaded guilty to 10 counts of second-degree assault and one count of third-degree sex assault.

At sentencing, the victim’s mother addressed Maeda and the court.

“This man has taken so much from her,” she said, crying. “He manipulated her since she was in seventh grade. He made her believe that he loved her, that she could trust him.”

The Honolulu Star-Advertiser is not identifying the mother in order to protect the identity of the victim.