A former Moanalua High School girls’ wrestling coach was charged in U.S. District Court last week with possession of child porn.
Sean Sakaida, 44, was arrested Thursday for receiving and possessing explicit photos of one of his former wrestling students, after someone tipped off the FBI about a possible inappropriate relationship between an adult and a minor earlier this year.
According to an FBI affidavit, a member of the Moanalua girls’ wrestling team told an investigator in January that Sakaida had a relationship “beyond that of coach and athlete” with another member.
When FBI agents broached the subject to the alleged victim’s mother, she did not initially cooperate. However, in July, the mother provided the agents with a recording of a WhatsApp conversation she found on her daughter’s phone, in which an unidentified user — although one who used a phone number investigators recognized as Sakaida’s — solicited sexually explicit images of the victim.
Subsequent reviews of Sakaida’s WhatsApp account activity showed that Sakaida sent and received images to and from the victim on a near-daily basis, along with frequent video calls. During a 25-day period between Aug. 21 and Sept. 14, Sakaida contacted the victim more than 5,600 times via images, texts, telephone and video calls.
The FBI then executed a search warrant on Sakaida’s iCloud account, where they found copies of the WhatsApp photos received between December of last year and January.
The affidavit notes that Sakaida’s iCloud account also included wrestling-related notes that included players’ birthdates, including the victim’s, indicating that he knew she was a minor.
While the affidavit does not mention finding images or conversations with other minors in Sakaida’s accounts, the FBI has urged other potential victims of Sakaida to come forward, alleging that Sakaida reportedly targeted other wrestlers as far back as 2012.
The FBI’s Honolulu Field Office has set up a website for people to submit information about their contact with Sakaida. Such information will be kept confidential.
Sakaida appeared in court Monday for an initial appearance. U.S. attorneys filed a motion asking to detain Sakaida without bail; that motion will be resolved at a detention hearing on Sept. 30.
Sakaida has not yet made a plea. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct. 13.
If convicted, Sakaida faces a minimum sentence of five years in prison, and a maximum of 20 years, along with possible fines of up to $250,000.
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