KAILUA-KONA— The man accused of 25 counts of sexual assault against a girl who turned 14 during the alleged abuse is in police custody.
Alexander K. M. Svendsen, 30, Kapaau, was indicted May 10 on the counts by a grand jury and a warrant was issued for his arrest. Hawaii Police reported they took him into custody at 2:09 p.m. Tuesday on Saddle Road near the 25 mile marker.
He appeared in front of Judge Greg Nakamura on Wednesday in Hilo for his arraignment, where Svendsen entered a not guilty plea.
Deputy public defender Jeff Ng requested that Svendsen be allowed on supervised release, which he said was recommended by the Intake Service Center. Svendsen has a place to live, works with his father and is involved in drug treatment, he said. Additionally, Svendsen was already on supervised release, he said.
Deputy prosecuting attorney Shaunda Liu argued he should be held on the $210,000 bond set by the warrant. Nakamura said that the decision will be up to Judge Ronald Ibarra, who will be hearing the case. According to electronic court records, no request for a reduced bond was filed by Thursday afternoon.
Svendsen is scheduled to appear in court for a pretrial conference at 4 p.m. July 7.
He was previously indicted on seven similar counts, which were dismissed before this indictment.