LIHUE – Prosecuting Attorney Justin F. Kollar announced that Shylo Kaena Akuna, 20, of Lihue, was sentenced Wednesday to serve a prison sentence for his harassment of a Hawaiian monk seal at Salt Pond Beach Park in Hanapepe in April of 2016.
Judge Kathleen N.A. Watanabe handed down the four-year prison sentence in the 5th Circuit Court after hearing arguments from Prosecuting Attorney Justin F. Kollar and defense counsel Mark Zenger, Esq.
A video recorded by bystanders to the incident showed Akuna aggressively harassing a Hawaiian monk seal at the beach park on April 26 of last year. That video went viral on social media and was brought to the attention of law enforcement. Akuna was apparently highly intoxicated at the time.
“Animal abuse is often a precursor to other types of violence and cannot be tolerated in our community,” Kollar stated.
“Our natural environment is crucial to us in Hawaii; this includes respect for our endangered species. To the best of our knowledge this is the first conviction under the felony monk seal harassment statute and we are satisfied that the sentence was appropriate and will serve to protect the community from this defendant,” Kollar added.
Court records show that Akuna was also sentenced on June 23 to serve one year in jail for the unrelated theft and slaughter of a goat from a pasture on Kauai’s west side in January of last year.
Akuna still faces charges regarding another unrelated case involving an alleged burglary of a room at the Poipu Grand Hyatt hotel in March.