A 45-year-old Hilo man was sentenced Wednesday to 20 years in prison for the repeated sexual assault of a minor between September 2011 and October 2017.
Hilo Circuit Judge Peter Kubota sentenced Clifton John Keliikanakaole Kua to the agreed-upon sentence in a plea deal between Kua and prosecutors.
Kua entered guilty pleas on Sept. 29 to charges of continued sexual assault of a minor younger than 14 and sexual assault of a minor between the ages of 14 and 16. In exchange for his guilty pleas, prosecutors dropped another count of sexual assault of a minor between the ages of 14 and 16.
The state agreed to concurrent sentences of 20 years for both offenses, instead of running the sentences consecutively. Also agreed to by the parties was capping its minimum sentence recommendation to the Hawaii Paroling Authority at 10 years, provided Kua successfully completes the Department of Public Safety’s sex offender treatment program prior to being paroled.
In addition, Kua — who has no prior criminal record other than some minor traffic offenses — will have to register as a sex offender after his release from prison.
Kua appeared via Zoom from Hawaii Community Correctional Center, where he’s been incarcerated for more than two years in lieu of $150,000 bail.
Looking older, thinner and grayer than his police booking photo, Kua answered only “no, Your Honor” when asked if he wished to make a statement prior to sentencing.
Kubota during the sentencing said it’s “almost unfathomable for me to understand” Kua’s actions and the extent of the suffering of the minor victim.
“To me, an appropriate sentence would be 20 years times 1,000, which would be 20,000 years,” Kubota said, and added the victim is still afraid of Kua “even now … even if he’s in custody.”
The judge said the victim will probably have to deal for life with the trauma of being repeatedly violated.
“If we’re bound to a concurrent term of 20 years … you got a lucky deal on that, Mr. Kua,” Kubota concluded. “The lack of empathy — even at this point, four years after you’re arrested and eight years after your crime started — this is a small sentence to pay.”
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
