33 year-old Kau Paio a.k.a. Kau Pacheco of Kamuela pleaded “No Contest” to two charges of Sexual Assault in the Second Degree in relation to two separate South Kohala incidents, one which occurred on January 1, 2023 and the other having occurred between August 1 and August 12, 2022.

Paio appeared in Kona Circuit Court last week where he entered “Guilty” pleas to two charges of Sexual Assault in the Second Degree (knowingly subjected another a person, a minor, to an act of sexual penetration, fellatio and vaginal intercourse, by compulsion). He was ordered to appear for sentencing on December 1, 2023. He remains in custody having previously been denied bail.

Sexual Assault in the Second Degree carries a penalty of either a ten-year prison term or five years probation and up to eighteen months in jail.

The case was initiated by South Kohala Patrol while the felony investigation was handled by Detective Scott Dewey of the Hawaiʻi County Police Department’s Area II Juvenile Aid Section Department.

The case is being prosecuted by Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Kate Perazich.

Photo credit: Hawaiʻi County Prosecuting Attorney