HAWAII
KGMB
Lisa Kubota – lkubota@kgmb9.com
An Oahu man who settled a high-profile sex abuse case against a Catholic priest is now accused of raping a teenage girl on Kauai nine years ago. Eugene Saulibio was in a Lihue courtroom Thursday morning, this time as the alleged abuser. Police began their investigation back in April.
"Eugene is deeply distressed. He was a member of this community for a long time," said Saulibio's attorney, Victor Bakke. "People know him, they respect him and it's very unfortunate that he's here today."
Officers arrested the 44-year-old on Oahu for allegedly raping a 14-year-old girl during a two-month period in 1996. Police said she was a family friend on vacation staying at his former home on Kauai. Bakke believes the timing is suspicious, since his client settled a sex abuse case involving Father Joseph Bukoski three weeks ago.
"It just happened to come out about the same time Eugene came into some money with a settlement that we believe the complaining witness is aware of," said Bakke.