A Kauai man has been sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree assault. Robert Bihm had initially faced up to 70 years in prison for allegedly kidnapping and brutally beating and raping his ex-girlfriend.

The Garden Island newspaper reports prosecutors offered Bihm the plea bargain when it became apparent their witness wouldn’t take the stand.

Bihm’s ex-girlfriend told a grand jury that Bihm attacked her over several hours at his family’s cabin in Kokee. She says she escaped when he fell asleep.

But she recanted her testimony less than three weeks later.

Defense attorney Emmanuel Guerrero says his client doesn’t deny physically assaulting his ex-girlfriend as he threw something against the wall and it hit her. But he called the rape allegations a “total fabrication.”

Maui

15 rescued after boat hits rock

Fifteen passengers aboard a 63-foot catamaran were rescued Saturday morning after their boat struck a rock off Manele Bay in Lanai, according to a statement released by the Coast Guard.

A 45-foot Response-Boat Medium from the Coast Guard assisted with damage control while the passengers were transferred onto the Maui Princess, another vessel in the area that responded to the distress call. The Maui Princess also towed the catamaran to Lahaina.

The Coast Guard received the report of the damaged catamaran at 9:02 a.m. The boat had sustained a hole in its hull and a damaged rudder, according to the report.

No one was reported injured.