AP: 12 kid-on-kid sex assault cases at Army base on Oahu
HONOLULU — Army officials now acknowledge they’ve investigated reports of child-on-child sexual assaults at Schofield Barracks.
The disclosure comes amid an Associated Press investigation that found many sexual assault reports among children at U.S. military bases where service member families live have languished in a dead zone of justice, in which victims and offenders go without help.
New documents released to AP show Army investigators opened at least 12 cases over a recent 10-year period at Schofield, concluding 11 were true. AP also documented six investigations on Oahu’s Marine and Navy bases.
Initially, Army’s Criminal Investigation Command released a list of 223 sexual assaults among juveniles that showed none at Schofield.
After reporters challenged the list’s accuracy, the agency added 86 cases. It doesn’t share the number of reports still being investigated.
Federal suit filed against Coco Palms developers, architect
LIHUE, Kauai — A lawsuit has been filed in a Virginia federal court against the developers and architect rebuilding the Coco Palms Hotel in Hawaii.
The suit filed in late March by Virginia resident Ruthann Caudill, president of the Jacob Broom Society, cites alleged violations of the Endangered Species Act, desecration of graves and the prevention of religious freedom, The Garden Island reported .
It seeks damages of $3.5 million.
The basis of the suit is activity that started on March 16 at the Coco Palms site, according to the lawsuit.
Caudill declined to comment, the newspaper reported.
A lawyer for the three people targeted in the lawsuit said it won’t stand up in court because it wasn’t filed against the development company Coco Palms LLC.
It was filed against Tyler Greene, Chad Waters and Ron Agor.
Their lawyer, Pierce Murphy, filed a motion to dismiss Caudill’s suit because Hawaii courts have already ruled in favor of Coco Palms Hui LLC, and because Caudill lives in a suburb of Washington, D.C.
“She claims a right to sue my clients under, among other things, the 19th century treaty between the Kingdom of Hawaii and the United States, which is about as realistic as if I were to sue you for violating the Treaty of Versailles,” Murphy said.
Murphy is defending two other clients in cases filed by Caudill in U.S. court, he said.
Hiker killed on Hawaii trail was pregnant woman from Utah
HONOLULU — Officials say a woman who was killed after being struck by falling rocks while hiking along a Hawaii trail was from Utah.
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports the 34-year-old woman who died Saturday while on the Makaua Hidden Valley Trail in Kaaawa was 6 months pregnant and from Salt Lake City.
The Honolulu Medical Examiner’s Office said Sunday it was not yet releasing the name of the woman, who was on the Kaaawa hike with her husband.
The Visitor Aloha Society of Hawaii has been assisting the woman’s husband.
Rescue officials on Saturday found the woman unconscious with no pulse and not breathing. She was airlifted to Swanzy Beach Park, transferred to the care of Emergency Medical Services and later pronounced dead.