2 indicted on unrelated sex assault charges

A Hilo grand jury on Wednesday indicted two Big Island men — one of them a registered sex offender — on unrelated sex assault charges.

In the first case, 45-year-old Shannon “Shawn” K. Guthier of Hilo is charged with third-degree sex assault. He’s alleged to have compelled sexual contact with an adult woman described in the indictment as “mentally defective, mentally incapacitated, and/or physically helpless” on Aug. 29.

Guthier has been convicted on three previous sex assault charges on the Big Island and is a registered sex offender.

In 1994, he was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for second-degree sex assault and attempted second-degree sex assault. Both are Class C felonies punishable by up to 10 years in prison. According to court documents, the latter charge was originally attempted first-degree sex assault, a Class A felony carrying a possible 20-year prison term.

Then in 1999, Guthier was sentenced to five years in prison for third-degree sex assault and supplying liquor to a minor.

In the second case, 48-year-old Reynaldo “Rey” Paragas Fernandez of Paauhau was indicted for 12 counts of third degree sex assault.

The indictment indicates that Paragas allegedly compelled the victim, an underage girl born in 1996, into sexual contact at least a dozen times between June 1, 2009 and May 7, 2010. The alleged victim was younger than 14 when the purported abuse started.

According to court records, Paragas has been convicted of 10 prior criminal charges, but no felonies, and he is not listed in the state’s sex offender registry.

Three of Paragas’ convictions are for violating a protective order, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and one is for harassment, a petty misdemeanor punishable by up to 30 days in jail, according to court records. The most recent conviction was in December 2005.

Third-degree sex assault is a Class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison.

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