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Man found guilty of sexually assaulting girl

Sentencing set for October; charge carries mandatory 20-year prison term

The Maui News

WAILUKU — A man was found guilty of sexually assaulting a pre-teenage girl, who testified he had warned her that no one would believe her if she told.

A 2nd Circuit Court jury returned the verdict Tuesday, convicting Byron DeRego, 57, of first-degree sexual assault.

The girl, who is related to DeRego, came forward and told what he did to her, in spite of the defendant’s warning, Deputy Prosecutor J.W. Hupp said during closing arguments to the jury Monday.

“I appreciate the hard work of the jury sifting through everything and believing the young lady who testified,” he said after the verdict.

The girl said DeRego came into her room and got on top of her while she was in bed in the early-morning hours of March 31, 2019, at a Kula residence. While holding her down with his legs, he covered her mouth with one hand and held her wrists with his other hand when she tried to pull away from him, she said.

Before leaving her room, “he told me that if I ever told anyone, then no one’s going to believe me,” she said. “And I believed him.”

At first, the girl said she didn’t tell others what happened. “I know I should have told my parents, but I was just scared,” she said.

About a week later, after talking to a friend, she decided to tell her mother, she said.

Police were called April 8.

That morning, DeRego said he was awakened by his sister who told him he had to leave because the girl’s father would be showing up at the house.

DeRego testified he was sitting in his car when the girl’s father arrived and began “throwing punches through my window and swearing and cussing” while saying DeRego raped the girl.

“That really hurt my feelings,” he said.

After the girl’s father said they should go in the house and talk, DeRego said he got his backpack and medication and left. Because his car was blocked in by the father’s vehicle, “I just hobbled down to the bus stop,” he said.

DeRego testified he has a condition that prevents him from having sex.

Asked by Deputy Public Defender Danielle Sears if he went into the girl’s bedroom and sexually assaulted her that night, DeRego said no.

“This did not happen,” she said in closing arguments to jurors. “It was physically impossible. Byron was physically unable to commit this crime.”

Sears said there was no physical evidence or other witnesses to support what the girl said. “Here, the word of a child cannot be enough for you when there are many reasonable doubts,” she said.

Hupp said “the testimony of even a single witness, if believed,” was enough evidence.

According to court records, DeRego had left the state and was brought back from Nevada to face the charge in September 2019 after he was indicted by a Maui County grand jury the month before.

After posting a $100,000 bail bond to be released in May 2020, he was taken back into custody when his bail was increased to $250,000 after the verdict Tuesday.

He is set to be sentenced Oct. 14 on the charge, which carries a mandatory 20-year prison term.

Judge Kirstin Hamman presided over the trial.

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