Bail set at $75K for man in 2018 sex assault case
WAILUKU — Bail was increased to $75,000 Wednesday for a 23-year-old Kihei man charged in a sexual assault case from 2018.
Second Circuit Judge Rhonda Loo ordered the increase in bail in response to a prosecution’s motion to have Abiola Oluwatimilehin held without bail or to have bail increased in the case. He is charged with second- and third-degree sexual assault for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman while she was sleeping at her residence.
Deputy Prosecutor J.W. Hupp said in the motion that he sought the increase in bail as Oluwatimilehin had posted a $21,000 bail bond in the 2018 case and had been out on bond when he was arrested in March for allegedly soliciting sex online from someone posing as a 13-year-old girl.
Hupp said that given Oluwatimilehin’s arrest on new sexual charges and the nature of the charges, he “poses an enhanced risk to the community.”
Oluwatimilehin, also known as David Abiola, is charged with first-degree electronic enticement of a child in the recent case.
In court, Hupp said the defendant is also an increased fight risk as he has only been in he U.S. for 10 years and his contact with the community “is very limited.”
But Deputy Public Defender Danielle Sears said that the defense “strongly disagrees” with the state.
She pointed out that Oluwatimilehin’s wife was in the courtroom Wednesday and that he also has a child on Maui. Oluwatimilehin’s mother also has flown to Maui and will be able to supervise him on the island, Sears said.
“They are coming to him,” Sears said of the defendant’s family.
She added that Oluwatimilehin also attended Kihei Charter School and has been back and forth to Maui. Two to three years ago he settled on island.
“He loves Maui,” she said. “He set up a family here.”
“He’s not a flight risk,” Sears added, noting he has come to every court date.
She asked that bail be maintained.
When Loo asked Hupp what he thought bail should be, Hupp said that the $21,000 originally set for bail was too low in light of Oluwatimilehin’s new charges. Hupp recommended $100,000.
In the 2018 case, court records show that the woman Oluwatimilehin assaulted was a roommate of someone he had met on an online dating app.
In the most recent case, Oluwatimilehin was among seven men charged with firstdegree electronic enticement of a child after arrests March 12 to 14 as part of “Operation Keiki Shield 7.”
Police worked with state and federal law enforcement officials to carry out the operation targeting online sexual predators.
As a result of news reports about the arrests, at least four victims have come forward to report Oluwatimilehin sexually abused them in the past, Maui police said last week.