Still no minimum term set for second Kona teen convicted of 2016 rape

Samuel Latrik appears in February in Kona Circuit Court for sentencing. (LAURA RUMINSKI/West Hawaii Today)
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KAILUA-KONA — More than seven months after being sentenced to prison, a Kailua-Kona teen has yet to learn the minimum term he must serve for his role in the 2016 rape of a woman at Old Kona Airport Park.

Samuel Latrik’s Wednesday hearing before the Hawaii Paroling Authority was continued after Latrik’s attorney requested another continuance, said Toni Schwartz, public information officer for the Department of Public Safety.

A new hearing date is pending, she said. Meanwhile, Latrik, who faces a maximum of 20 years, will have to wait behind bars at Halawa Correctional Facility on Oahu to learn how much time he must serve before becoming eligible for parole.

Wednesday’s continuance was the third of its kind in the case since it reached the paroling authority after he was sentenced in February to serve up to 20 years in prison for the September 2016 rape of a 26-year-old woman on the soccer field at Old Kona Airport Park.

Latrik’s first minimum-term-setting hearing, originally expected to take place on June 6, was rescheduled because he was transferred between two facilities. An August hearing was also continued because Latrik’s attorney was unavailable. The parole board by law has six months from sentencing to set a minimum term, unless a continuation is requested waiving that right.

Latrik was the second teen sentenced in connection with the crime after he pleaded guilty and no contest mid-trial in November 2018 to charges including first-degree sexual assault, second-degree assault, kidnapping and robbery, among others. He was sentenced to serve up to an indeterminate period of 20 years for the offenses.

Tyron Sigrah, the first teen sentenced, has already been given his minimum term from the parole board. Sigrah, who pleaded guilty to first-degree sexual assault, second-degree assault, kidnapping and second-degree robbery prior to trial, must serve 11 years of a 20-year term before parole eligibility.