Posted on: Wednesday, July 30, 2003

Rapist who fled will be sentenced on Sept. 3

Associated Press

A convicted rapist who walked out of his sentencing hearing last month and was later arrested in Guam has returned to Hawai'i.

Jovie Adora, 26, is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 3. He faces 20 years in prison for sexually assaulting four teenage girls in 2000 and 2001.

Adora was supposed to be sentenced June 4, but he left the court building as his attorney, the deputy prosecutor and the judge discussed a request to reschedule the hearing.

Defense attorney Keith Shigetomi told the judge that Adora left to seek medical attention, and said his client agreed to turn himself in the following day. Instead, Adora boarded a plane for the Philippines.

He was arrested on Guam when the plane made a stopover on its way to Manila.

Adora pleaded guilty to the sexual assault charges in March, and tried to withdraw his guilty pleas in May. Circuit Judge Wilfred Watanabe denied the request.

A decision on a defense request to reconsider Watanabe's denial is pending. Meanwhile, Adora's family has retained another attorney.