Prosecuting Attorney Kelden Waltjen announced that 46 year-old Clifton John Kua of Hilo will serve 18 years in prison before being eligible for parole. The Hawai‘i Paroling Authority set Kua’s minimum term at 18 years following an April 2022 hearing.

In December 2021, Kua was sentenced to serve 20 years in prison for Continuous Sexual Assault of a Minor Under the Age of Fourteen Years and Sexual Assault in the First Degree.  During his change of plea hearing in October 2021, Kua agreed that between 2011 and 2017, he knowingly subjected a minor, who at the time was under the age of 14, to more than three separate acts of sexual penetration or contacts in a continuing course of conduct while they were living in the same home. Kua also agreed that in October of 2017, he knowingly subjected the same minor, who was 14 years old at the time, to sexual penetration.

Both Continuous Sexual Assault and Sexual Assault in the First Degree are class A felonies, which carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

The lead investigator for the case was Detective Gavin Kagimoto, Area I Juvenile Aid Section, Hawai‘i Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Sylvia Wan.

 

HPD Photo

 

HPD Photo