A controversial, decade-old video of a case entitled “Lap Dance Kaua‘i” set to air last night was pulled before residents could see it.
The video shows an unedited 1996 trial of the late Randall Machado, a former Kaua‘i police officer.
Former-Police Chief George Freitas fired Machado and officers Todd Tanaka and Mel Rapozo after Kaua‘i resident Monica Alves said she was molested and photographed by the men at the police station after she was arrested for prostitution.
The video was supposed to air on Ho‘ike Channel 52 yesterday through Thursday, but Kaua‘i resident Ed Coll, who obtained the tape, pulled it after considering the implications it would have for the Machado family.
The video included Alves’ testimony describing that she was frightened and named the officers in the room at the police department when the incident happened. Rapozo, Tanaka and Machado got their jobs back after being initially fired over the incident.
K.C. Lum, a lieutenant at the time, was also in the video, testifying that he didn’t know about the incident. Lum launched an investigation after Alves made a claim that she was sexually assaulted.
The video footage was shot by court surveillance and is a matter of public record, Coll said.
Coll wanted to air the footage because it changed the way sexual misconduct by police officers is defined, he said.
When Machado was on trial, the law stated correctional facility officers were not allowed to have any kind of sexual contact with prisoners, even if it was considered consensual.
However, because Machado was a police officer and not a correctional facility officer, he was not held to the same standard.
The judge, George Masuoka, found the sexual conduct between Machado and Alves was consensual, and Machado walked.
The law has changed since that case; it now prohibits police officers from having consensual contact with prisoners.
The case’s impact on the law was the sole reason for Coll’s initial interest in running it, he said.
Though an election that includes County Council candidates Lum and Rapozo is around the corner, Coll said the timing wasn’t a consideration when he decided to run the video, nor when he decided to pull it.
“The reason I’m pulling it is in deference to the Machado family,” Coll said.
“I decided the public interest and educational value was not justified because of the potential harm it could do to other innocent parties.”
• Amanda C. Gregg, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or agregg@kauaipubco.com.
