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WAILUKU – Saying she knows what it is like to grow up without a father, a teenage victim convinced prosecutors to not pursue jail time for a former Maui High School head football coach and father of two sons after he transmitted sexual images of himself to her two years ago.
A Wailuku District judge, however, felt no jail time would “undermine the seriousness” of his offenses and ordered David Bui to serve 30 days in jail and one year of probation during his sentencing Thursday.
“To say that you displayed a tremendous lack of judgment by essentially preying on a minor student – someone who as a teacher and as a coach you are entrusted to care for – would be an understatement,” Judge Blaine Kobayashi said. “You had multiple opportunities to stop what you were doing in this case, but instead you repeatedly over the course of months and months made a conscious decision to send highly inappropriate messages to the victim in this case, including photographs.”
Bui, 40, of Wailuku pleaded no contest to five counts of indecent electronic display to a child. Each charge is a misdemeanor offense that carried a penalty of up to a $2,000 fine and up to one year in jail.
In addition to the jail time and probation, he was ordered to register as a sex offender and to seek sex offender treatment, as well as pay $577.84 in restitution to the victim’s family. He was ordered to report to the state Department of Public Safety by 5 p.m. Thursday to begin serving his jail time.
The messages were sent from May to September 2014, according to court documents. At the time, the victim was a 14-year-old sophomore at Baldwin High School. She came forward to school administrators and police in February 2015.
Surrounded by a half-dozen family members, she sat in court and watched Bui’s sentencing. A letter she had written to the court was read aloud by First Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Robert Rivera.
“I had no idea one person I had never met in-person could instantly change my life over a computer screen,” she wrote. “I was a social butterfly, had a bubbly personality and got along with many people. It was hard to hide my fear from my family and friends. I went from constantly spending time with friends and always being outdoors to locking myself in my room all day and not talking to anyone. I just wanted to die.”
The girl wrote that when she learned it was Bui contacting her, she thought it was time to report him. However, she stopped after learning he was a father.
“I know what it’s like to not have parents there for you,” she wrote. “My father hasn’t been in my life since I was in the 3rd grade, and it impacted my life in a way that I never could have imagined. It’s a feeling I wouldn’t even wish upon my worst enemy.”
Prosecutors and Bui’s attorney, William Sloper, had reached a plea agreement in May, which reduced the original attempted first-degree sexual assault charge to the misdemeanor charges. Rivera said the primary reason for the plea agreement was the victim’s concern for Bui’s two young sons.
“It’s hard to fathom that a child or minor would think like that of other minors,” Rivera said, commending the victim.
While the girl eventually told school officials and police about Bui, “she felt like it was the worst decision she ever made” due to the “negativity and hate” she experienced from classmates and others.
When being questioned by police, she felt the officer was “pretty much interrogating” her, asking her repetitive questions for hours. “I was told to my face . . . by the officer that it was my fault,” she said in the letter.
“His exact words: ‘This wouldn’t be happening if you just didn’t reply.’ I was convinced it was all my fault,” she said.
Two days later, her story reached the headlines, and she read comments in social media from strangers, which she felt impacted her the most. Classmates would give her weird looks and laugh at her, and she worried that she might see Bui in public.
“I was convinced that it wasn’t worth the fear, hurt and pain,” she wrote, adding that the love of her family and friends is what kept her alive.
Rivera applauded her bravery to come forward and to report Bui’s actions. He said she intends to attend college and has already taken college preparatory classes.
“She has issues and goals that she has not given up, but this certainly has set her back,” he said.
Three family members also read letters to the court, including the victim’s grandparents. Her grandfather said he could not comprehend how Bui, a teacher, coach, parent and husband, could be so “sexually deviant and sick, to impose on a young girl the filth and vulgarity . . . he so freely displayed.”
“You used your position of trust and confidence as a teacher and coach to intentionally do harm,” he said. “You have betrayed your own family, David. You have failed as a husband and a father of children, who will forever live with the shame and guilt of a sexual predator as a dad. You need help.”
The grandmother directed questions to Bui and wondered what lesson he was teaching. She said he never thought of the many people he hurt and was only satisfying himself.
“Hats off to my granddaughter for doing the right thing and exposing this man for the man that he is,” she said. “Was she afraid? Hell yeah. Did she think that she was going to be blamed? Hell no. Was she blamed? Hell yeah.
“She found out how cruel social media can be. This will forever be with us, and I thank God that we as a family will move on.”
Sloper asked the court to follow the plea agreement, saying Bui has taken full responsibility for his actions and has already registered as a sex offender after changing his plea in May.
Sloper said any jail time would cause irreparable harm to Bui’s sons. He had no objection to restitution and having no contact with minors aside from his sons.
“Mr. Bui knows he made some terrible mistakes, but since making those mistakes he has done everything he can to fix it and move forward and be positive,” he said.
The state Department of Education has since fired Bui, who taught English, and he has taken a job with an airline company doing cleaning work, Sloper said.
“I can guarantee the court he will never be a part of any children’s lives as far as coaching or teaching,” he said.
Bui apologized to the girl’s family and acknowledged their anger, but hoped they will forgive him one day. He said his actions were wrong and they hurt their family as well as his own and the entire community.
“I’m whole-heartedly going to seek help and try to work my way through this,” Bui said. Kobayashi acknowledged Bui’s apology and the good things he has done in the community. However, he found the pre-sentence report lacked acknowledgment and acceptance of wrongdoing by Bui.
“You stated in the report how you’ve hurt your family, embarrassed yourself, lost friends and let others down, but nowhere did the court see remorse for the victim and her well-being,” Kobayashi said. “You’re not the victim in this case, Mr. Bui.”
* Chris Sugidono can be reached at csugidono@mauinews.com.
* Bui sentencing. Former Maui High School football coach David Bui did not plead to reduced charges in his sexting case, according to county prosecutors. He pleaded no contest to the original five counts of indecent electronic display to a child and was sentenced to 30 days in jail Thursday.
A story that began on Page A1 and continued to Page A4 on Friday incorrectly noted the plea status.
The Maui News apologizes for the error.