HONOLULU — A former Junior ROTC instructor at a Kauai high school must remain behind bars on allegations he sexually abused a student and filmed the abuse, U.S. judge ruled Thursday.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Wes Reber Porter granted prosecutors’ request to keep Victor Aguilar detained pending trial. Aguilar, 65, poses a “very serious danger to the community,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Micah Smith told Porter during a hearing in which Aguilar appeared by phone from the Honolulu Federal Detention Center.
Aguilar used his position of trust and authority at Waimea High School on Kauai to exploit the girl, Smith said. He also kept folders on his computer of photos of dozens of other students in bikinis, Smith said.
Defense attorney Alen Matsuo Kaione Kaneshiro asked that Aguilar be released to home confinement under the supervision of Aguilar’s wife. Porter denied the request.
Aguilar has no prior criminal history and and “he’s done a lot of work for the community on Kauai,” Kaneshiro said.
If convicted of two counts of producing sexually explicit child pornography videos of a minor victim, Aguilar faces a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 15 years.