Probation, jail in attack on woman

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A 25-year-old former Mountain View man was sentenced Tuesday on reduced charges in connection with the alleged sex assault of a woman in July 2014 in the Piihonua area of Hilo.

A 25-year-old former Mountain View man was sentenced Tuesday on reduced charges in connection with the alleged sex assault of a woman in July 2014 in the Piihonua area of Hilo.

According to court records, Hilo Circuit Judge Greg Nakamura sentenced Thomas Alexander Marsello to a year in jail and five years probation, ordered him to serve 135 of those days, and took the remainder under advisement, provided he complies with terms and conditions of his probation.

Marsello will be allowed to serve his sentence intermittently, on weekends. The judge ordered Marsello to report to the adult probation department Wednesday and to start his jail term Friday.

Marsello, who now lives on Maui, pleaded guilty in December to first-degree unlawful imprisonment, second-degree reckless endangering and indecent exposure for the incident.

The Tribune-Herald is withholding the name of the victim, an adult woman.

In return for Marsello’s plea, prosecutors dropped two counts of first-degree sex assault and a single third-degree sex assault charge. Marsello originally was also charged with kidnapping, but that charge was reduced to unlawful imprisonment in a later complaint.

As part of the agreement, Marsello will undergo anger management treatment and a substance abuse assessment and was ordered to follow any recommended treatment.

He also was ordered to undergo sex offender treatment at his own expense but will not have to register as a sex offender since he was not convicted of a sex offense.

Nakamura denied Marsello’s request for a deferred acceptance of his guilty plea, which would have allowed his conviction to be erased from the record upon satisfactory completion of his sentence.

Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.