A 45-year-old Kona man was found guilty of continuous sexual assault of a minor under the age of 14 and first-degree attempted sexual assault following a recent jury trial in Kona Circuit Court.
A 45-year-old Kona man was found guilty of continuous sexual assault of a minor under the age of 14 and first-degree attempted sexual assault following a recent jury trial in Kona Circuit Court.
The jury on Wednesday found Joshua Masuda-Mercado guilty of both charges resulting from an August 2020 indictment.
The case stemmed from a string of incidents that occurred between November 2014 and August 2018 and a separate incident on July 2, 2019, on a minor born in 2006.
After the jury’s verdict was received, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Chase Murray argued bail be set and that Masuda-Mercado, who had been previously granted supervised release be taken into custody.
The court set bail at $150,000 pending sentencing set for Dec. 9.
Both continuous sexual assault of a minor and first-degree attempted sexual assault are class A felony offenses that carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and also require registering as a sex offender.
Masuda-Mercado was originally charged via grand jury indictment in August 2020, however, he left the island and was not located until June 2021 in Tennessee. He was extradited back to Hawaii to face the felony charges, and was granted supervised release in April
“Justice prevailed,” said Prosecuting Attorney Kelden Waltjen in a media statement issued Thursday. “We thank the jury for their service. We hope that this conviction provides the victim and her family some sense of justice and comfort. This verdict is the result of the hard work of police and prosecutors and sends a clear message that we will not tolerate the victimization of our keiki.”
