WAILUKU — A Maui man who prosecutors said physically and emotionally tortured his girlfriend has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Bryan Planesi, 20, was sentenced Wednesday after pleading no contest to two counts of second-degree assault and two counts of abuse of a household member, The Maui News reported.
Deputy prosecutor Brandon Segal told the court that the Pukalani man perpetrated a series of violent acts in October 2017 against the woman he had been dating for about two years.
“This is probably one of the most egregious instances of domestic violence that I’ve seen,” Segal said.
The attacks started when Planesi accused the woman he had been living with of cheating on him. He then hit her in the right eye and later pulled her hand backward until she heard her fingers cracking, Segal said. He also used derogatory language, pulled her hand back again and punched her on the face.
The next morning he shot her with an airsoft gun. A doctor found “at least 17 different holes in her body” caused by the airsoft gun, Segal said.
Planesi also choked her until she passed out and delivered more punches and kicks.
Days later, the woman told Planesi she was pregnant, and he responded with more violence. At one point, he held a knife and “told her he was going to stab her and cut the baby out of her,” Segal said.
“This wasn’t just abuse. This was torture over the course of a week,” Segal said. “This was emotional torture. This was physical torture.”
The woman spoke in court Wednesday, telling Planesi to never come near her or her child again.
“I cooked for you, I cleaned, I did your laundry. What did you do? You beat me and threatened to kill me,” she said in court.
Deputy Public Defender Jeffrey Wolfenbarger had requested probation for Planesi, citing his lack of a criminal record and saying he grew up in a broken home.
Planesi apologized in court, agreeing with the judge that he was insecure and jealous.