HAWAII
Hawaii News Now
[with video]
By Chelsea Davis
WAILUKU, MAUI (HawaiiNewsNow) –
A Maui minister is behind bars and charged with sexually assaulting a young child.
Dennis DeRego fainted in court Tuesday afternoon during a bail hearing while his attorney asked the judge to let him out of jail on supervised release. DeRego was rolled out on a wheelchair and loaded onto an ambulance.
DeRego was arrested on Friday after a Maui grand jury indicted him earlier in the week on ten different charges. The charges against him include eight counts of sexual assault of a minor, ranging from first degree to fourth degree, and two counts of promoting child abuse in the second degree.
Other ministers on Maui who know him are stunned.
“It was obviously shocking to have a man of his stature, and obviously touching the lives of many people, to have him arrested,” said Reverend Laki Kaahumanu.
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