Jail time for possessive Vava‘u ‘revenge porn’ case abusing cheating girlfriend
A 32-year-old Vavau man has been sentenced to jail after being convicted of sexual abuse of a 24-year-old girlfriend/mistress, including distributing sexually compromising images over the internet.
The incident happened in July 2022 when Alifeleti ‘Ofa Alifeleti went out for some drinks with a friend, when his girlfriend and a friend of hers joined them.
Following the drinks at about 4am, dispersing at 4am Alifeleti stopped over with his girlfriend at her friend’s house to pick up some personal things. Whilst the ladies were inside the house, a call came to the girlfriend’s phone which was left in the car. This sparked the cycle of suspicion and abuse for the rest of the night.
The call went unanswered, but Alifeleti did try to return the call moments later. But the man that answered on the other end merely said it was wrong number.
When the ladies returned from the house, Alifeleti punched the girlfriend in the ear and told her he had told her not to give her number to anyone else.
They dropped off the friend at the other friend’s house, while the man put the girlfriend in the back of his vehicle and took her to his residence.
There, Alifeleti further attacked the girlfriend, including a blow with a piece of timber to the head that knocked her out unconscious. He splattered water on her face to resuscitate her, and when she came to, according to the judge’s ruling, she could not move her right arm.
The beating subsided but Alifeleti took over the girlfriend’s phone and went through her Facebook Messages.
He then told her he would take naked photographs of her and send them to her Facebook friends. He then proceeded to forcefully undress her and and began taking photo’s of her naked and with him performing sexually explicit acts on her.
According to the court statement of facts, at 11am the next morning, the man that made the wrong number call earlier received an explicit text message “ I’m still sleeping with your girlfriend!”
He then sent her to her room, and threatened that if she left the room again, he would find her and shoot her with his gun and then left to town.
The lady found her phone and contacted an aunt to call the Police, and they arrived moments later to pick her up from the residence.
Sentencing Remarks
Upon his sentencing, the judgement noted that the man had been a first-time offender, was intoxicated at the time. What happened seemed to be crime of passion flared on by jealousy and insecurity, given that the man may have social anxieties since he is described by the Leimatua Town Officer as a “loner,” and the woman is recently divorced with two children.
The probation officer described the offender as immature “when confronted by his partner’s apparent betrayal, as lacking sufficient maturity ‘to deal with it like a man.” The probation officer also noted that the offender is not a threat to the community, but lives at home growing kava and is the primary support for a sister and her child.
This case may be the first most serious offence under the freshly minted Cyberbully Act (Electronic Communication Abuse Offenses Act) since the whole Afimeimo‘unga Hola sensation on Tongan Facebook groups in the past years.
Sentencing
Alifeleti was sentenced to two years sexual abuse and one year for using the internet for abuse and harm.
Six months from the second count was added to the first count, and the totality to be served concurrently which meant two and a half years imprisonment. But he was allowed eligibility for parole only after the first year in prison and the balance of his time suspended, during which time he must avoid any infringements of the law. If he does not, he will return and serve the remainder of his sentence.
