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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, January 27, 2006

Plea deal in rape of elderly woman

By Ken Kobayashi
Advertiser Courts Writer

David M. Baldaino

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A Kaimuki man who has a 1989 sex assault conviction will be sentenced to a maximum 30 years in prison for his guilty pleas yesterday to raping an 85-year-old neighbor in March and not providing his current address to the sex offender registry.

David M. Baldaino, 37, pleaded guilty to burglary, kidnapping and first-degree sexual assault and failing to provide the required information for the registry.

The charges carry a potential life term in prison with the possibility of parole, but in a plea agreement, he and city prosecutors agreed to the 30-year term.

Circuit Judge Richard Perkins accepted the agreement.

The sentencing is scheduled for June 7.

Baldaino remains in custody, unable to post $500,000 bail.

City Deputy Prosecutor Lori Wada called the agreement a "fair resolution" of the case. Wada said the victim is "very satisfied" with the outcome.

Preparing for the trial later this year had been "very stressful" for the victim, Wada said. "She's happy to put this behind her."

Deputy Public Defender Debra Loy, Baldaino's lawyer, declined to comment.

The rape, followed three days later by the sexual assault of a 72-year-old Kaimuki woman at her apartment, raised concerns in the Honolulu community about a serial rapist preying on elderly women.

Wada, however, said Baldaino isn't linked to the second attack and the assailant in that case remains free.

According to Wada, Baldaino slit a screen window to get into the 85-year-old woman's home and attacked her. He put his arm around her neck and his hand over her mouth and told her not to yell or he'd kill her, Wada said.

Aside from being raped, the woman suffered a cut on her hand, the deputy prosecutor said.

In the previous case, on Kaua'i, Baldaino was initially charged with first-degree sexual assault, but pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of third-degree sexual assault. He was sentenced to a five-year prison term.

Wada said that because Baldaino failed to update his address for the registry, his address was not known to authorities from 1998 to 2005. She said neighbors could have taken precautions if they knew about Baldaino and his conviction.

Baldaino is believed to be the first to plead guilty to a felony of not complying with requirements of the sex offender registry.

Hawai'i has about 2,100 registered sex offenders.

Last month, state prosecutors announced a drive to go after convicted sex offenders who do not follow requirements for registration. Nine were indicted by the O'ahu grand jury on felony charges carrying up to five years in prison.

Reach Ken Kobayashi at kkobayashi@honoluluadvertiser.com.