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DLNR worker accused of rape of minors
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Posted on May 02 2005
An employee of the Department of Land and Natural Resources on Rota is facing criminal charges for allegedly raping two girls aged 13 and 11 some three years ago.
CNMI chief prosecutor Jeffrey Moots lodged four counts of sexual abuse of a minor against 22-year-old Manuel A. Pinaula.
Pinaula allegedly had sex with one of the two victims several times during the summer of 2002 when she was only 13 years old. He allegedly had sex once with another girl, who was only 11 years old at the time of the supposed incident.
Clad in orange prison suit, Pinaula appeared at the courtroom of Superior Court judge Kenneth Govendo in a scheduled preliminary hearing yesterday afternoon.
Govendo affirmed that there was reason to believe that Pinaula probably committed the crimes he is being accused of, necessitating that the defendant proceed to trial. The defendant contested the charges against him.
Chief public defender Masood Karimipour represented Pinaula as legal counsel and asked the court to lower the $50,000 bail it had imposed on his client.
Karimipour asked the court for a lower bail amount of $10,000. The judge set the new bail amount at $25,000.
Assistant attorney general Joseph Taijeron represented the prosecution in yesterday’s preliminary hearing.
