HONOLULU — A 28-year-old Kapalama man is headed for trial on two somewhat similar sexual assault cases involving two girls, ages 13 and 14, he met online.
One of the girls he met in 2022, and the other while out on bail Jan. 19, which included forcible sex and threats against the 14-year-old girl’s family.
Circuit Judge Ronald Johnson on Monday found that Elwood Reynolds Jr., who was 27 on Jan. 19 and posed as a 15-year-old boy, is mentally fit to proceed to trial in both cases.
Trial is set for Oct. 14 before Judge Rowena Somerville.
Johnson based his decision on reports by a three- member panel of mental health experts’ findings, resulting from an April 18 defense motion for a fitness examination.
Reynolds, age 26 in 2022 when he allegedly lured and sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl, had undergone a mental examination for fitness in November, and Johnson found him fit then.
Reynolds, who posted $100,000 bail bond on April 26, 2023, and then on Nov. 17 after being found fit for trial, was living with his mother at 607 N. King St., Island West Apartments, when he allegedly sexually assaulted the 14-year-old girl.
The following is alleged in the criminal complaint and supporting police affidavit:
Reynolds posed on Instagram as “Dustin,” a 15-year-old Waianae High School student, and met K.A. on Jan. 13 (as identified in the indictment), a 14-year-old Wahiawa Intermediate School student.
She said he pressured her to give him her phone number, threatening to kill himself and her family if she didn’t.
K.A. also said Reynolds asked her to send nude photos of herself, and he sent nude photos of genitalia, possibly his.
He told K.A. to share her location using the Life 360 application, threatening suicide or harm to her family. She showed him her Waipio Acres residence and could see he remained at 607 N. King St. for long periods.
On Jan. 19 at 4:20 a.m., the two were on the phone but K.A. was asleep. Reynolds woke her, saying he wanted to come over since he could hear her parents leaving for work.
She said he took the city bus, and she could see him on the app getting close on Waimakua Drive. He knocked on her front door at 5 a.m., threatening to hurt her family if she didn’t open the door.
K.A. was alone with her two younger siblings. She told police Reynolds claimed to have guns and knives, so out of fear she opened the door.
She said he immediately grabbed her by the throat, pushed her into the bedroom, shut the door and took off his clothes.
K.A. described Reynolds as 5 feet tall and chunky, with baggy eyes, messed-up drug teeth, tattoos and a broken toe.
She described his aggressive behavior in sexually assaulting her, causing pain and biting her neck.
Reynolds also took video of his genitals during sex.
Meanwhile, her younger siblings were knocking at the bedroom door, crying. Reynolds told her to keep them quiet, which she did, for fear he would hurt them.
Between 6 and 7 a.m., K.A.’s grandmother, who was supposed to take her to school, called.
Reynolds told her to call in sick and run away with him, but she called her mother, who said she had to go to school.
K.A. and her siblings left for school with the grandmother, who she told not to come inside because Reynolds remained in their home.
At school a teacher took K.A.’s AirPods from her.
Reynolds, who was listening to her activities, went to the school and met her, pretending to be a relative. But a real relative working in the office noticed the unknown man and confronted him. Reynolds left with K.A., and the relative called K.A.’s mother.
K.A.’s mother received a call from the school at noon about the AirPods, and another call from the relative about the unknown man.
K.A. told her mother about the sexual assault. Her parents took her phone from her. Using the app, they located Reynolds in a restroom stall at Wahiawa District Park and yelled at him for a half-hour before he emerged.
The mother said Reynolds was “running into” K.A.’s father “while trying to tackle him to the ground.” Reynolds then sprayed him with deodorant and ran.
A resident manager of Reynolds’ apartment building identified him from a photo.
With the mother’s permission, police were able to recover sexually explicit text messages, photographs and images from her daughter’s phone.
Reynolds was indicted Feb. 7 on three counts of first-degree and one count of third-degree sexual assault, first-degree promotion of child abuse, first-degree electronic enticement of a child and first-degree promoting minor-produced sexual images.
The grand jury issued a bench warrant to have him held without bail, and bail was revoked Feb. 14 in the 2022 case. He remains in custody at the Oahu Community Correctional Center.
Court documents in the previous case show Reynolds met the 13-year-old Wahiawa Intermediate School student on social media, pretending to be 13, and communicated with her from April 24 to May 2, 2022, with the intent of sexually assaulting her.
They met May 2 near her school and traveled by bus to Makaha, Waianae and Ala Moana Regional Park, where he allegedly performed sexual acts.
The girl’s mother, with the help of friends, contacted Reynolds’ mother, who found her son and the girl.
He was arrested May 11, 2022, and indicted on five counts of first-degree sexual assault, one count of third- degree sexual assault, first- degree electronic enticement of a child and second-degree custodial interference.
Wow, the guy had just gotten bail for doing the exact same thing. Sounds like the justice system failed badly on this one. Hopefully they put him away for a long time now.