Foreign Citizen Extradited to New Zealand to Stand Trial for Child Rape

HONOLULU - Acting United States Attorney Kenneth M. Sorenson announced that a foreign citizen overstaying a visitor visa on Oahu was extradited to New Zealand where he is wanted to stand trial for the alleged rape of a twelve year- old. The man invoked his right to name suppression under New Zealand law and is not being identified by the United States Attorney's Office.

According to the extradition request submitted by New Zealand, the man is charged with rape, indecent assault on a young person, and unlawful sexual connection, among other offenses, for a 2015 encounter with the minor victim in a guest room adjoining the minor's family home. Multiple witnesses provided statements to New Zealand Police, including a female friend of the victim, who corroborated the victim's story and reported having also been inappropriately touched by the man in the months preceding the incident. Following an initial encounter with New Zealand Police in September 2015, the man fled New Zealand, eventually finding his way to Hawaii.

The United States Marshals Service, with substantial assistance from Homeland Security Investigations, arrested the man in March 2024. On April 3, 2025, following federal court proceedings in Honolulu, the court certified him as extraditable to New Zealand. The United States Secretary of State thereafter granted the extradition request, and he was surrendered to New Zealand authorities on May 30, 2025.

The case was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan D. Slack of the District of Hawaii and the Office of International Affairs in the Justice Department's Criminal Division