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	Jurors Deliberate Teen Sexual Assault Case By Amanda C. Gregg Garden Island [Hawaii] January 4, 2007 http://www.kauaiworld.com/articles/2007/01/04/news/news04.txt Jurors began deliberation yesterday on a decade-old incident involving sexual contact between a then 35-year-old man and a 14-year-old girl. Eugene Saulibio, 45, is charged with four counts of first-degree sexual assault against the victim, who is now 24 and living in Oregon. The charges against Saulibio stem from allegations that he subjected the victim to penetration by compulsion, however slight, according to attorneys for both parties. When the alleged sexual contact occurred in 1996, the legal age for consensual sex in Hawai'i was 14. The age of consent was changed to 16 in 2001, making it a Class A felony of first-degree sexual assault with a prison term of up to 20 years for a person convicted of having sex with someone he or she knows to be younger than 16. Genital to genital contact or hand to genital contact constitutes penetration, Saulibio's attorney, Victor Bakke said. At his trial, Saulibio denied penetrating the victim. He did admit to kissing and fondling her. Saulibio, who won a lawsuit in 2005 against a priest who sexually abused him as a teenager, likened the victim's experience to his own, citing it a breach of trust. Prosecuting Attorney Jennifer Winn declined to comment on the case because the jury is still deliberating. Jurors will reconvene in court today at 9:30 a.m.
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