Posted on: Thursday, June 10, 2004

Rapist gets 10 years for fleeing to Guam

By David Waite
Advertiser Courts Writer

A man who fled Hawai'i last summer on the day he was supposed to be sentenced on sexual-assault charges was sentenced yesterday to 10 years on a bail-jumping conviction.

Circuit Judge Derrick Chan granted a prosecution request to extend the normal five-year term for bail jumping to 10 years, but denied a request to have Jovie Adora start serving the 10-year sentence after he finishes a 20-year sentence for multiple rape convictions.

City Deputy Prosecutor Scott Bell had argued that if Adora is allowed to serve the bail-jumping term concurrently with the term imposed for the sexual-assault conviction, he will have suffered no penalty for the bail-jumping offense.

Chan said the extended term was necessary to punish Adora for fleeing and to deter others who may be tempted to run away. But Chan said there were mitigating circumstances in Adora's case, including his decision to plead guilty to the bail-jumping charge.

Adora was sentenced in October to a 20-year term after he pleaded guilty in March 2003 to sexually assaulting four teenage girls. He was supposed to be sentenced last June, but left the courthouse after telling his lawyer he was having chest pains. Adora then went to the airport and bought a one-way ticket to Guam. His final destination was the Philippines.

Guam police arrested Adora as he got off a flight and returned him to Hawai'i.