Molestation Hearing Continues Next Week

The preliminary hearing for alleged child molester Dale Akiki will continue Monday.

Akiki, 34, is charged with 50 felony counts of child molestation, kidnaping and inhumane corporal punishment. Prosecutors have charged him with victimizing 10 children--although they say there are more victims--at Faith Chapel in Spring Valley.

Originally indicted by the county grand jury, Akiki is now charged in a criminal complaint because the indictment was thrown out in December for reasons unrelated to the case.

(A number of criminal indictments were set aside after a lawsuit challenged the ethnic makeup of the grand jury.)

However, transcripts of the testimony of the alleged victims, who were 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 years old when the attacks allegedly occurred, are being used by Municipal Judge E. Mac Amos Jr. to spare the children the stress of testifying during the preliminary hearing.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Mary Avery has called some of the parents to testify about behavioral changes they observed in the children.

“There were drastic changes observed,” Avery said.

Defense attorney Kate Coyne, however, maintains that Akiki has been falsely accused by parents who did not like his physical appearance.

Akiki has a disfigured head because he suffers from hydrocephalus, a condition commonly known as water on the brain.

Akiki, who has pleaded innocent to all of the charges, is being held without bail.

The preliminary hearing is expected to conclude late next week.