Clear record, no jail time possible Former Kaua’i County Police officer Joseph Bonachita, 33, pleaded no-contest Monday in Fifth Circuit Court to reduced charges in connection with original allegations of sexual assault. He entered his plea on charges of violation
Clear record, no jail time possible
Former Kaua’i County Police officer Joseph Bonachita, 33, pleaded no-contest Monday in Fifth Circuit Court to reduced charges in connection with original allegations of sexual assault.
He entered his plea on charges of violation of privacy in the second degree, a misdemeanor, and open lewdness, a petty misdemeanor.
Bonachita has also filed a motion for deferred acceptance which would allow the possibility that the crimes could eventually be cleared from his record.
Bonachita, whose victim was “an adult female, not his wife,” according to prosecutors, faces a maximum of one year in jail on the first charge and 30 days in jail on the second.
Judge Clifford Nakea set Oct. 18 as the sentencing date.
Originally, Bonachita was charged with nine counts of sexual assault, including five felonies, but the case was pleaded down.
And it’s likely the former police officer, who resigned earlier this year and moved to Oahu, won’t serve any jail time.
As part of the plea arrangement, Kaua’i County chief deputy prosecutor Craig De Costa said the state would not seek incarceration, but would require sex-offender treatment for Bonachita.
After the proceedings, De Costa defended the plea arrangement.
“It has nothing to do with his being a (former) police officer. He is no longer a police officer. It was based on the strengths and weaknesses of the case,” De Costa said.
Staff writer Dennis Wilken can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) and mailto:dwilken@pulitzer.net
