The state Judiciary, which oversees the Community Service & Restitution Branch, is reviewing its community service contracts following the arrest of a city worker who was allegedly depicted on live video Friday propositioning a transgender probationer for sexual favors.
Police arrested Harold Villanueva Jr., 47, on a charge of fourth-degree sex assault at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at his home in Waianae. Villanueva appeared in court Wednesday morning. His bail was set at $500 for the charge, which is a misdemeanor, with a possible sentence of up to a year in jail.
Police began investigating Villanueva after Makana Milho, 21, secretly recorded and posted live to Facebook on Friday approximately 30 minutes of conversations that she alleges were between her and the city worker. Milho, who is on probation, had been ordered to complete six days of community service to get a theft charge expunged from her record.
She said she stole a luxury purse to pay for rent after she turned 18 and aged out of foster care.
City spokesman Jesse Broder Van Dyke said Milho worked Monday through Thursday last week with a supervisor who is normally responsible for supervising community service workers. On Friday that supervisor was off, and Villanueva filled in.
Broder Van Dyke said the two were alone because the victim was the only community service worker who had reported to work that day.
One of the videos Milho shot went viral, and by Monday afternoon had garnered 197,000 Facebook views, 2,042 shares and 1,350 comments. Two others received thousands of views and hundreds of comments.
In the video, a man can be heard telling Milho that she can go home early if she will perform sexual favors. Milho said the man told her that he previously had sex with other community service workers.
Milho, who is represented by Honolulu attorney Myles Breiner, also alleges that the man tried to hold her hand and pinched and slapped her buttocks while she was cleaning park bathrooms.
Broder Van Dyke said Villanueva, a groundskeeper in the Department of Parks and Recreation, has been placed on unpaid administrative leave pending an investigation. Villanueva has worked for the city since 2002, he said.
Broder Van Dyke said city employees receive education on sexual harassment. There haven’t been any other complaints about Villanueva or other city workers who supervise community service workers, he said.
However, Broder Van Dyke said the city is investigating Milho’s claim that there were other victims.
Judiciary spokeswoman Tammy Mori said the state Judiciary’s partnership with the city’s community service branch goes back at least to the 1970s.
“We are reviewing our existing contracts with agencies/organizations that handle community service to ensure that appropriate steps are being taken for the safety of those who are performing community service,” Mori said.
Mori said the state Judiciary is redoubling efforts to ensure probationers know such behavior will not be tolerated and understand how to make a complaint. She said probationers should know that “we take these matters very seriously and will do all that can be done, as expeditiously as possible, to investigate and, where necessary, take immediate corrective action.”
Milho will not be required to return to the site to continue community service, Mori said.
A tearful Milho told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Monday that she live-streamed footage of Villanueva because she feared for her safety and lacked faith in the system.
“If I didn’t make the video, I didn’t think anyone would believe me,” she said.
Breiner said sex assault complaints from the LGBTQ community often aren’t taken seriously. Police should have charged Villanueva with a felony, Breiner said.
“We have extortion and intimidation and physical harassment of a sexual nature,” Breiner said.