A 23-year-old Hilo man was arrested and charged for the alleged sexual assault of a teenage girl.
Temaura‘i Border is charged with four counts of first-degree sexual assault and single counts of third-degree sexual assault and attempted first-degree sexual assault.
According to the complaint, the victim, identified only by her initials, was born in July 2007 and the alleged offenses took place in Puna between May 1 and Aug. 28.
At Border’s initial court appearance Monday afternoon, Deputy Public Defender Jonas Krave asked Hilo District Judge Jeffrey Hawk to free Border on court-supervised release or to reduce his bail to the lowest amount possible for the alleged offenses. He noted Border has a construction job, a clean rap sheet and said he can live with his mother in Hilo.
“He’s lived on the Big Island his entire life,” Krave said. “He also has a close-to-70-year-old grandma that he takes care of.”
Krave also noted the spike of COVID-19 cases on the Big Island and told the judge Border “also has a pre-existing condition, asthma, that affects his body’s ability to defend itself from the virus.”
Deputy Prosecutor Nathan Wersal objected to supervised release or a reduction of Border’s $260,000 bail, saying “based on the allegations … “the defendant poses a danger to the community.
“The allegations in this case are particularly disturbing,” Wersal said, adding the victim is 14 years old, younger than the legal age of consent.
Wersal asked the judge for conditions of bail to include no alcohol or drugs, no firearms, a stay-away order from the victim and her home and electronic monitoring if he posts bail.
Hawk maintained Border’s bail, granted the bail conditions requested by Wersal and ordered Border to return to court at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday for a preliminary hearing.
Border remains in custody at Hilo Medical Center.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
