HONOLULU (AP) - U.S. Marshals have arrested a former Maui corrections officer who was on the run for about two years after being accused of sexually assaulting a female inmate.
James Siugpiyemal, a 43-year-old citizen of Micronesia, had initially been detained in Yap in September. He waived his right to extradition and was held until U.S. Marshals turned him over to Maui police Saturday.
Siugpiyemal, who worked at the Maui Community Correctional Center, faces second- and third-degree sexual assault charges.
He was indicted in October 2014 after the inmate’s attorney turned over to Maui police footage from a hidden camera that allegedly captured the guard raping her in her car. The woman claims Siugpiyemal threatened to remove her from a work furlough program, which allowed her to leave the jail during the day, if she didn’t comply with his demands for sex.
She filed a lawsuit against the state earlier this year, saying officials didn’t do enough to protect her against Siugpiyemal.
Siugpiyemal’s arrest comes as a result of efforts by Maui police and U.S. marshals as well as the Maui Prosecutor’s Office and the U.S. Department of Justice Office of International Affairs.
Authorities say Siugpiyemal initially fled to Guam before traveling to Yap in October 2014. An investigation found that he made several phone calls to family and friends on Maui, telling them he had no plans to return to the island.
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