KAILUA-KONA — A Big Island teenager accused of holding a woman against her will and beating and raping her was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Tyron Sigrah, 17, was sentenced Tuesday after pleading guilty to counts of first-degree sexual assault, second-degree assault, kidnapping and robbery.
Sigrah, who was 15 at the time, and another teen kidnapped the woman and took turns assaulting her at the Old Kona Airport Park in September 2016, authorities said. The attack stopped after a bystander chased the teens off.
“This was a very, very heinous crime,” the victim told the court. “I thought I was gonna die. They were suffocating me with a towel.”
The victim told the court that the teens cannot be rehabilitated, noting that “they’re not your normal teenage boys.”
“What happened to you should have never happened to anyone,” Judge Robert D.S. Kim told the victim. “As long as I wear this robe, I will make sure it doesn’t.”
Prosecutors dismissed four charges of sexual assault and terroristic threatening in exchange for Sigrah’s guilty plea. Prosecutors also agreed to not give statements to the Hawaii Paroling Authority, which will determine Sigrah’s minimum prison sentence.
Deputy Public Defender Wendy DeWeese requested for Sigrah to receive youthful offender status, which would allow for a prison term of eight years.
“Today, the court is going to send a child to prison,” DeWeese said.
Prosecutors argued against the status, saying Sigrah has made no effort for rehabilitation.
“The victim is going to suffer the sheer savagery of this attack for the rest of her life,” the judge said. “This is not children. This is beyond child’s play.”
