Police and prosecutors in the most notorious child disappearance-turned-murder case in Hawaii history declined to comment on the accuracy of a television news report that the mother of the victim is cooperating with authorities.
Citing anonymous sources, a Hawaii News Now story Tuesday reported Jaylin Kema, mother of Peter Kema Jr., aka “Peter Boy,” is providing police and prosecutors details about what happened to the 6-year-old boy who disappeared in 1997 and whose body has not been found.
“Even if she was, that would not be subject to any type of public discussion,” said Deputy Prosecutor Rick Damerville, who’s handling the cases of Kema and her husband, Peter Kema Sr., who are charged with the boy’s murder. “There are discussions between defense attorneys and prosecutors in every case, and those discussions remain private … unless leaked by someone, so we don’t comment on the accuracy or the inaccuracy. But most of the time they are inaccurate.”
Police Capt. Robert Wagner of the Hilo Criminal Investigation Division said “what’s going on with the case is 100 percent confidential.”
“If (information leaks are) occurring, the person who leaked that could get themselves in some hot water,” Wagner said.
Justin Haspe, Jaylin Kema’s attorney, had no comment.
The Kemas, both 46, were indicted by a Hilo grand jury in April, about 19 years after Peter Boy’s disappearance.
Social workers documented years of abuse of the boy, who went missing sometime in late spring or early summer 1997.
His mother didn’t officially report his disappearance until January 1998 after prompting by a social worker and police.
Peter Kema Sr. told authorities in August 1997 he left Peter Boy with a longtime family friend, “Aunty Rose Makuakane,” at Aala Park in downtown Honolulu.
Authorities couldn’t find any evidence the woman exists, didn’t believe Kema’s story, and found no plane tickets to corroborate his account.
When the boy’s disappearance became public, outrage about the story was widespread, and in the early 2000s, bumper stickers with the child’s face and the question, “So where’s Peter Boy?” were seen statewide.
In 2005, then-state Department of Human Services Director Lillian Koller released more than 2,000 pages of heavily redacted documents, with details of abuse allegedly suffered by Peter Boy and his siblings at the hands of Kema Sr.
Jaylin Kema is scheduled to stand trial Jan. 30, 2017. She was in Hilo Circuit Court on Thursday on a motion to be released from jail on supervised release or for her $150,000 bail to be reduced.
Missing part of a leg because of diabetes, she previously appeared in court in a wheelchair, but has since been fitted with a prosthesis. She walked into and out of court and stood during Thursday’s proceedings.
The hearing on her request was postponed until 8 a.m. on Oct. 6.
Peter Kema Sr. is scheduled for trial Sept. 19. He remains in custody in lieu of $500,000 bail.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
