Ex-HPD officer’s statements can be used against him, judge rules

The government says retired Honolulu police officer James Dean Kalani Goeas told an FBI polygrapher that he had sex multiple times with a 15-year-old boy whom he met on the internet while still employed by the Honolulu Police Department.

Goeas, 63, was arrested in March in an internet sting operation. The government says Goeas made the statement to the polygrapher following his arrest.

He is scheduled to stand trial in U.S. District Court in February on a charge of using the internet to entice or coerce into having sex a person he thought was a 13-year-old boy. He was actually corresponding with an undercover law enforcement officer. Goeas is not charged with having unlawful sex with anyone.

Senior U.S. District Judge Helen Gillmor ruled on Wednesday that should the case go to trial, prosecutors can tell the jury about Goeas’ alleged admission to having sex seven years ago with a 15-year-old boy.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ken Sorenson told Gillmor that the FBI recorded Goeas’ statement.

“His own words will be played for the jury,” he said.

Sorenson told Gillmor that he also will present to the jury Goeas’ statement admitting to the crime to which he is charged.

Assistant Federal Defender Sharron Rancourt told Gillmor that Goeas did not admit to the enticement. She also objected to letting prosecutors tell the jury about Goeas having sex with a 15-year-old boy because the government hasn’t attempted to prove whether it really happened.

Should Goeas take the witness stand in his own defense, Gillmor said prose­cutors can bring up other alleged Goeas admissions. The government says Goeas told the polygrapher that he molested another 15-year-old boy 10 years ago and that if given the chance, he would tell both 15-year-olds, “Sorry for getting them into this.”

HPD says Goeas received his appointment as an officer in 1987 and retired in 2015. He remains free on $25,000 bond pending trial.