A 37-year-old Lihue man has confessed to recording video of himself sexually assaulting minors, Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Wallenstein told a federal judge Tuesday.
Michael J. Terui was hit last week by charges that he persuaded, enticed and coerced a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct to produce visual depictions of it. A federal grand jury returned an indictment Thursday, charging him with four counts of sexual exploitation of children. The charges are for acts committed from December 2008 to November of last year.
Wallenstein said the FBI has since recovered more video images, most of them recorded while the child was asleep on Terui’s sofa, some showing the child’s face, others showing Terui’s face. He said the most recent image was recorded Jan. 2.
“So far, Mr. Terui’s confession is consistent with the evidence,” based on the FBI’s examination of just one hard drive, he said.
Wallenstein urged U.S. Magistrate Judge Kevin S.C. Chang to order Terui to remain in custody without bail pending the outcome of the case. Trial is scheduled for late April.
William Harrison, Terui’s lawyer, asked Chang to release Terui because the federal charges are the result of Terui’s cooperation with Kauai police. Harrison also said Terui has ties to the community and that his father is a pastor on Kauai.
Wallenstein told Chang that Terui cooperated and confessed because he was caught.
Chang ordered Terui to remain in custody pending the outcome of his trial.
Kauai police arrested Terui in early February on two counts of sexually assaulting a minor between July 1, 2014, and Dec. 11, 2015. They released him Feb. 6 after Terui posted $100,000 bail. The arrest was the result of the police investigation of a complaint. Trial was set for late April.
A Kauai grand jury indicted Terui on the charges Feb. 16. When police rearrested Terui on Feb. 22, they said there could be additional victims and urged anyone with information to call them.
The FBI took custody of Terui after his indictment by a federal grand jury.
