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WAILUKU -- Saying it was the only sentencing option, a judge Thursday ordered a 10-year prison term for a Lahaina man who arranged to meet someone he thought was a teenage girl to have sex.
Rolly Alcantara had pleaded guilty to first-degree electronic enticement of a child.
"This is a 60-year-old man who preyed upon a 14-year-old girl who was friends with his daughter," Deputy Prosecutor Elizabeth Nardi said. "He used his daughter as a tool to obtain the contact information of the victim."
Less than 24 hours after getting the victim's phone number, he began sending the girl text messages with flattering comments, Nardi said.
"A month later, on the victim's birthday, the defendant sent pictures of him holding stacks of money asking what she wants -- did she want to go on a trip with him or come over to the house," Nardi said. "The defendant told her that he would leave his wife for her and to not tell anyone."
He would give the girl "looks and gestures" at hula shows, Nardi said. She said he tried to give the girl a watch and bracelet in a gift bag, which she didn't accept.
Alcantara continued to send the girl text messages for over a year, although she had told him not to contact her, Nardi said.
When the victim "had the courage to disclose to her doctor what had been going on," police were called and an undercover officer used the girl's phone to make contact with Alcantara, Nardi said.
After "only one message where the undercover officer alluded to wanting to meet with the defendant," Alcantara "unleashed his sexual desires," Nardi said.
She said he sent a sexually explicit photo and messages.
In pleading guilty to the charge, Alcantara acknowledged that he used his cellphone to communicate with someone representing herself to be 15 years old and drove to Safeway in Kihei "to meet that underage person for the purpose of having sex" on Jan. 4, 2021.
Nardi said she spoke with the girl's mother, who wanted to write to the court but "could not find the words" to explain how her family had been affected.
The defendant was supposed to be "part of their halau ohana," Nardi said.
"This defendant broke the trust, the family's ability to trust people that they believe are closest to them," she said. "As a result of this, the kumu has implemented new safety rules to protect the keiki from predatory adults."
She said the victim's family has suffered "backlash from community members" who blame the family for coming forward.
Nardi said those who wrote letters supporting Alcantara "only know one side of the defendant" and "not his secret life, not his secret desires, his infatuation with a 14-year-old girl."
Defense attorney Cary Virtue said Alcantara had expressed remorse to his wife and other family members, including some in the courtroom gallery Thursday, and had wanted to take responsibility from the start.
"On his own initiative, he started doing sex offender counseling," Virtue said. "He has told me he will do whatever it takes not to be in this situation again."
Speaking through an Ilocano interpreter, Alcantara asked for a second chance.
Second Circuit Judge Kelsey Kawano told the defendant, "There are no second chances under this statute" that requires a 10-year prison sentence for first-degree electronic enticement of a child.
The judge noted that letters submitted to the court described Alcantara "as a family man, as a hardworking man and as a generous man."
Kawano said none of the letters "expressed any understanding or empathy for the young person you victimized in this case."
"That young person will likely spend a lifetime attempting to heal herself from your actions," Kawano said. "I hope that in the course of her healing, she comes to a place of being able to understand and accept what has happened to her. The expectation is that you will appreciate the extent of harm you caused and with that empathy be able to effect changes within yourself to never do this again."
Alcantara was ordered to register as a sex offender and participate in sex offender treatment.
* Lila Fujimoto can be reached at lfujimoto@mauinews.com.