Kaipat found guilty of rape

A six-person jury unanimously found 19-year-old Kenneth Thomas Blas Kaipat guilty of raping his cousin in June 2019.

After just three hours of deliberation, Kaipat was found guilty on nine separate charges for his involvement in the brutal rape and beating of his now 28-year-old cousin in a family residence in San Vicente back on June 2, 2019.

Kaipat was found guilty of three counts of sexual assault in the first degree, two counts of sexual assault in the second degree, burglary, aggravated assault, assault with a dangerous weapon, and strangulation.

Throughout the reading of the verdict last Friday afternoon, Kaipat appeared emotionless, much like he was throughout the five-day trial held at the Superior Court before Associate Judge Wesley Bogdan.

Because the victim and the suspect share the same family members, the courtroom was packed with half of the people present in tears while the other half were filled with joy as they believed justice had been served.

After the hearing, the prosecution, led by assistant attorney general Steve Kessell, immediately asked that Kaipat be remanded to Department of Corrections while he awaits sentencing as he is related to the victim.

However, the defense, led by Brien Sers Nicholas, opposed, stating that Kaipat has not violated the terms of his release for many years now.

As a compromise, Bogdan decided to release Kaipat to his parents pending sentencing but he is strictly on house arrest, meaning he cannot leave his house unless absolutely necessary.

Kaipat’s sentencing has yet to be scheduled.

In an interview with Kessell after the trial, he said he is pleased with the jury’s decision as it brings closure to the victim in this case.

“On behalf of the Commonwealth, we are extremely pleased with the verdict. We thank the jury for their service. It’s been a long week but this does bring some closure for the family and the victim. We also want to thank the men and women in the Department of Public Safety for their hard work that went into this case,” he said.

Saipan Tribune tried to get a statement from Kaipat and his defense team but they refused to give one.

During the closing arguments last Friday, Sers Nicholas insisted to the jury that the Department of Public Safety, the OAG, and even the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s DNA analysis crew assigned to the case failed his client as they could not place him at the scene on June 2, 2019.

“The government is afraid of facing the truth, They cannot handle the truth. The saddest part about this case is that [Kaipat] wasn’t even there. Our DPS failed in their duties. The FBI, the OAG dropped that ball on themselves in this case. They should have tried harder,” he said.

Sers Nicholas argued that there was more than enough evidence that could have been tested to place Kaipat at the scene but the defense decided that testing the rape kit acquired from the victim was enough.

“This is not fair,” he said.

However, in rebuttal, Kessell argued that, just as the FBI had testified earlier in the trial, in most cases, analysts test evidence with the most probative source of DNA. In this case, Kessell argues, the rape kit was highly probative of Kaipat’s guilty.

“All the DNA samples that were tested, samples from the victim’s intimate areas, her fingernails, DNA found puts Blas at the scene,” he said.

As for the argument that the government didn’t do its due diligence in finding the suspect in this crime, Kessell argues that evidence presented to the jury proves that the government did.

“What’s lacking is the lack of corroboration between evidence and the defendant’s story. The defendant’s story has changed so many times over the last few years,” he said.

According to Saipan Tribune archives, Kaipat’s cousin was asleep in her room in her home in San Vicente when he brutality beat, raped, and left her for dead.

At first, Kaipat was not considered a suspect as he was also found beaten by police by a man he claims he saw running into the house just before his cousin was assaulted.

However, after DNA evidence acquired from both Kaipat and the victim were tested, it proved that there was a 99% chance that it was Kaipat who assaulted the victim.