Sex offender indicted on bail jumping charge
By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer
A convicted sex offender was indicted by an O'ahu grand jury this week on a charge of bail jumping after he failed show up at his sentencing in June and attempted to flee the country.
Jovie Adora was sentenced in October to 20 years in prison after he pleaded guilty in March to sexually assaulting four teenage girls. Adora was supposed to be sentenced in June, but he left the Circuit Court building after telling his attorney he was having chest pains and needed to see a doctor.
ADORA
Instead, Adora caught a ride to the airport and bought a one-way ticket to Guam. His final destination was the Philippines, said city Deputy Prosecutor Scott Bell.
Guam police arrested Adora as he got off a Continental Airlines flight. He then was returned to Hawai'i. At his sentencing, he claimed that he pleaded guilty only because he and his family were threatened by men who identified themselves as police officers.
Adora asked Circuit Judge Derrick Chan to withdraw the plea, but Chan denied that motion..
If convicted on the first-degree bail-jumping charge, Adora would face an additional five years in prison.
Bell said he will request that the sentence be served consecutively to the 20-year term.
"There would be no punishment for bail-jumping if it runs concurrent," Bell said.
Reach Curtis Lum at culum@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8025.
