CNMI Chief Prosecutor Michael Ernest said his office will separately pursue multiple counts of sexual abuse of a minor charges against Fitial in Superior Court to give justice to two other girls with whom the former guard also had sex.
“This is a very serious crime. There are two other victims in this case,” Ernest told the Variety.
He said Fitial struck a deal with the U.S. Attorney’s Office partly because of the cooperation that the CNMI authorities showed to solve the case.
Fitial entered a guilty plea yesterday morning before U.S. District Court for the NMI Designated Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood.
U.S. Assistant Attorney James Benedetto prosecuted the case while Fitial was represented by his court-appointed counsel, Joseph James Norita Camacho.
Camacho is also Fitial’s court appointed attorney in the local trial court.
During the hearing for Fitial’s guilty plea, the judge ordered the prosecution to prepare the defendant’s sentencing report by June 16.
By July 21, Fitial will make another court appearance for his sentencing. At which time, the judge said the victims will be afforded the opportunity to be heard.
Last month, Fitial agreed to plead guilty to avoid the maximum penalty of life imprisonment for the offense of enticement of a minor.
According to the agreement, Fitial pleaded guilty to count 3 of the superseding indictment charging him with enticement of a minor. All other charges against him will be dropped.
“The superseding indictment alleged that Fitial used a facility or means of interstate commerce to persuade, induce or entice a minor to engage in sexual activity which would be a violation of commonwealth law,” U.S. Attorney for Guam and the NMI Alicia G. Limtiaco said in a statement.
Fitial now faces the statutory mandatory minimum term of 10 years, a $250,000 fine and a $100 special assessment fee, which must be paid at the time of the sentencing.
Any sentence imposed on him will include a supervised release of at least five years.
The now 26 years old Fitial was arrested last year upon information that he lured a teenage girl, who was previously detained at the juvenile facility, to have sex with him in a secluded area.
Fitial phoned the victim from the federally funded juvenile facility, records showed.
“During one or more of the defendant’s telephone calls to R.S., the defendant made sexually suggestive comments to R.S. in an attempt to get R.S. to meet with him to engage in a sexual act. The defendant did, in fact, meet with R.S. at a later time and engaged in sexual acts,” the plea documents stated.
