A 48-year-old South Kona man charged with first-degree unlawful imprisonment and persistent nonsupport in connection to allegations of keeping a minor under the age of 16 chained to a floor was in court this week for a bench trial.
Alexander Aquino pleaded not guilty to the charges and opted for a bench trial presided over by Kona Circuit Court Judge Wendy DeWeese, not a jury. The judge will render a verdict next month.
During the two-day bench trial, the alleged victim described being confined to a lanai, only allowed into the main house when having to use the bathroom. The minor also testified to being chained, around the neck, with a 20-inch chain to the floor at night with only a towel and blanket for a bed for over a year.
Further testimony indicated sometime in 2020, while not chained up, the victim tried to escape from the lanai, which is 17 feet from the ground. The minor lost footing and fell, subsequently suffering a compression fracture to the spine. Aquino, the child’s step father and his wife, the child’s mother, failed to provide medical attention for the youth and after about a month continued the routine of the chain around the neck.
In August 2021, the youth testified to being able to scale the lanai and then hitchhiking to the Kailua-Kona Ross.
After purchasing a pair of shoes, the youth tried to get another ride, not sure where to go. A concerned woman saw the child and offered food from McDonald’s.
While in the parking lot of Target, the minor disclosed to the woman the reason for running away, stating “I am tired of being chained.” — Child and Family Services were called, as well as the police and the minor’s aunt, who took custody of the child.
The minor further described putting the chain around the neck and padlocking it to the floor and being unable to sit up while chained. The chain was removed during the day.
The alleged victim claimed it was Aquino’s idea to use the chain and confinement to the lanai because “things were being broken around the house and dad thought it was me. I didn’t do any of it.”
The minor also said in the time before being chained to the floor at night in 2020, Aquino would “whack me on the legs with a 2×4 when something broke.”
There was also a camera installed in the bathroom “to make sure I didn’t break anything while in there.”
The minor, who was home-schooled, said “I would study by myself. I did not go outside to play.”
The child was later placed in the custody of his maternal grandmother.
Aquino’s court-appointed attorney, Hermann Heimgartner argued the state failed to prove the definition of restraint.
“The law is unclear if as a parent he can restrain a child,” Heimgartner said, adding there is no difference between restraining a child with a chain and giving a child a time out. “A parent has a right to tell a child what to do and restrain a child whether there was a chain or not. The law is badly defined. The law gives parents the right to restrain. Maybe this is not an ideal lifestyle, but it is not a crime.”
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Charles Murray countered the defendant did restrain by force with threat of physical and mental anguish.
“This was not a time out or grounding. There is nothing reasonable about chaining a child up. This was not parental discipline,” said Murray.
DeWeese will render her verdict in the case on May 18.
On April 22, Aquino’s wife Amy pleaded no contest to the charge of first-degree unlawful imprisonment. Sentencing for her is scheduled for July 8.
First-degree unlawful imprisonment is a class C felony punishable up to five years imprisonment.