In an unusual case, a Honolulu man who has already served jail time for molesting a girl at a Waikiki store nearly 15 years ago has again pleaded no contest to the same charges in an effort to avoid deportation to the Philippines.

Villamor Yasay, 42, is not disputing felony charges of third-degree sex assault and kidnapping involving an 11-year-old girl. The crime occurred in October 1992 at a 7-Eleven store where Yasay worked.

Yasay, however, is asking Circuit Judge Michael Town to defer accepting the pleas and to have the charges dropped.

City Deputy Prosecutor Thalia Murphy strongly objected to Yasay pleading no contest rather than guilty. And the victim, now 26 years old, tearfully deplored the reopening of the case and said she opposes any dismissal of the charges.

"He gets his way; he gets it cleared, and he gets to live his life and I get to live with the dreams and nightmares," she said.

Town scheduled a hearing for Sept. 17 on whether to grant the defense request to give Yasay a chance to have the charges dropped. If Town rejects the request, he will sentence Yasay, but Yasay's lawyers said the judge cannot give him a greater sentence than the 30 days in jail and five years' probation that he already served.

The reason for the unusual hearing is that Yasay learned that he faced deportation by federal immigration officials in 2004 — long after he served his sentence — because of his criminal convictions.

Once he was notified, Yasay's lawyers sought to set aside his 1993 sex-assault and kidnapping convictions based on his no-contest pleas. They argued that Yasay had not been notified when he pleaded no contest in 1993 that he could face deportation.

In 2004, Town granted the defense request allowing Yasay to withdraw his 1993 pleas.

The judge said he had no choice because the court transcripts had been destroyed and there was no record that Yasay was advised that he could get deported.

Yesterday, Murphy was prepared to go to trial and the victim flew in from a Neighbor Island to testify.

But the trial was canceled with Yasay pleading no contest.

Gary Singh, Yasay's lawyer in the immigration case, said his client wants to remain in Ho-nolulu with his wife and three children.

But he said even if Yasay is granted his request to have the charges dropped, he still faces problems in trying to block the deportation.

On the other hand, if the request is rejected and Yasay is sentenced, he would be deported, Singh said.

Victor Bakke, Yasay's attorney in the criminal case, said the criminal case is "an effort in futility" because Yasay can't get a more severe sentence than the one he served.

He said Yasay, a mortgage broker, completed probation and sex-offender treatment and has stayed out of trouble.

Bakke indicated he sympathized with the victim. He said the case had to be reopened because the federal immigration officials sought deportation.

"It's unfortunate everyone had to go through this," Bakke said. "It's unfortunate for her. It's unfortunate for him."

Reach Ken Kobayashi at kkobayashi@honoluluadvertiser.com.