Registered sex offender gets 10 years in prison for sexually abusing girl

Superior Court Associate Judge Kenneth L. Govendo yesterday slapped a 10-year prison term against Price Ekon Shoiter, a 69-year-old registered sex offender who pleaded guilty in connection with the charges that he sexually abused a 7-year-old girl at a residence in Dandan.

Govendo sentenced Shoiter to a total of 10 years imprisonment without parole for the offenses of impermissible contact with minors and sexual abuse a minor in the second degree.

After completing the prison term, Shoiter will be placed on supervised probation for five years.

The defendant was ordered to pay $100 fine, $25 in court assessment fee, and $500 in probation fee. He was required, among other things, to abide by all the terms and conditions of the Sex Offender Registry, including notifying the Department of Public Safety of any address changes within two days of said change, and not living in a household with any non-biological minors.

Shoiter is prohibited from having contact with the victim during the entire probationary period. He was required to continue to register with the CNMI Sex Offender Registry.

Shoiter signed a plea agreement with the government and pleaded guilty to the offenses of impermissible contact with minors and sexual abuse of a minor in the second degree.

Under the plea agreement, the defendant shall be sentenced to 15 years in prison, all suspended except for an open sentence of five to 10 years to be determined at a sentencing hearing after a presentence investigation has been conducted.

Shoiter was given credit for time served.

Assistant attorney general Shannon Foley represented the government. Assistant public defender Michael Sato served as counsel for Shoiter.

According to the factual basis of the plea agreement, on Nov. 13, 2015 on Saipan, Shoiter, while subject to the Sex Offender Registration requirements, stayed in his home knowing that his girlfriend’s granddaughter was staying there for the weekend.

At the time, Shoiter was subject to conditions of the CNMI Sex Offender Registry Act prohibiting him from residing in or having contact with a residence while minors are present.

The prosecutor said that on that same day, Shoiter engaged in sexual contact with a 7-year-old girl by touching her private part with his hand.

Shoiter was arrested last Nov. 15.

According to police detective Rhonda C. John, a police officer responded to a residence in Dandan on Nov. 15 after the Department of Public Safety received a call about a sexual abuse incident.

John said investigation showed that while the girl was sleeping sideways, Shoiter touched her private part.

The girl eventually told her father about what happened.

Shoiter was convicted in March 2004 for sexually abusing a minor. He served prison term and registered as a convicted sex offender.