HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — A man convicted of rape and sentenced to 30 years in prison was released from confinement pending his appeal to the Supreme Court of Guam.
In August 2022, Duayne Richard Peters was found guilty of five counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and three counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct, both as first-degree felonies, with a special allegation of a vulnerable victim because the victim was under the age of 14 at the time of the abuse.
Peters was sentenced in July 2023 to serve 30 years in prison and self-surrendered to the Department of Corrections.
However, last week, Superior Court of Guam Judge Arthur Barcinas signed an order which granted Peters’ request to be released from confinement pending Peters’ appeal proceedings in the Supreme Court of Guam.
According to court documents, Peters was released on house arrest and electronic monitoring. Barcinas determined Peters “will not flee or pose a danger to any other person or the community” with the ordered conditions.
Other conditions include being allowed to leave his residence only to attend to personal emergent medical issues or medical visits approved by the probation office and to consult his appellate counsel. Peters is not to have contact with any individuals who testified during his trial, documents state.
Sexual assault
Peters and his wife, Natasha Peters, were charged following accusations by a woman known to the couple, who said she was sexually assaulted while she was in middle school and high school.
According to court documents, the 18-year-old victim told officers with the Guam Police Department that she was sexually assaulted when she was about 11 or 12 years old and the assaults continued through January 2019. The victim also told authorities that Duayne Peters allegedly used a vibrator on her.
Natasha Peters, who pleaded guilty in the case and testified at Duayne Peters’ trial, admitted to police she and her husband included the victim in sex acts and that Duayne Peters had sex with them both, adding that the incidents occurred when the girl was 9 or 10 years old, court documents state.
Duayne Richard Peters
A gavel rests beside a book in this undated file photo.
