Psychologist who got ‘unusual’ plea deal admitted to abusing other young victims, court filings reveal
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - The Hawaii child psychologist who agreed to plead guilty to sexually assaulting a 14-year-old patient admitted to abusing more underage victims, court documents reveal, in a disturbing development that raises new questions about the case.
Records say Kona psychologist Reuben Lelah provided the Hawaii County Prosecutor’s Office with a written confession last fall in which he essentially admitted he’s a serial sex offender.
Despite being armed with that information, prosecutors offered Lelah a plea deal that will drastically reduce the time he spends behind bars for assaulting the 14-year-old. Under the deal, he was even allowed to pick his punishment — something a legal expert calls unusual.
According to the court filing, the prosecutor’s office received a package from Lelah last October.
Inside were “approximately 15 letters, handwritten, addressed to various individuals.” Court filings said the letters “contained admissions of conduct” against the 14-year-old and “additional minors that the defendant engaged in various degrees of manipulative or sexual conduct with.”
HNN Investigates
“These are statements. And apparently, they’re admissions from the defendant himself admitting not just to this crime, but other crimes,” said legal expert Victor Bakke.
Also included in the package from Lelah was a note to a deputy prosecutor. In it, the psychologist wrote, “I have tried to have my attorneys send this letter and journal entries to you but was unsuccessful. So I am sending it to you against their advice.”
Bakke said having a defendant send a written confession to prosecutors is “very rare.”
He added that the plea deal is all the more surprising given that prosecutors knew about additional victims. “It makes the plea agreement even more irregular now because you have a dangerous person,” Bakke said. “And they gave this weird plea deal where they gave him the opportunity to ask for probation or prison and just kind of left it up to him.”
Camron Hurt, program manager for government watchdog group Common Cause Hawaii, agreed.
“It’s our worst fears come true. There were more victims. There were more innocent children who were hurt, who were taken advantage of, who were abused by this monster,” Hurt said.
“Somebody who is a serial abuser of children. I don’t see that person really needing a plea deal.”
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Bakke said he doesn’t understand why prosecutors wouldn’t seek a tougher sentence.
“Now that we know this guy’s actually maybe way more dangerous than previously known to the public, it begs the question, what was the problem with the prosecutors?” he said. “Why aren’t they going for the maximum in this case because he’s clearly a danger and a serial offender?”
HNN Investigates asked the Hawaii County Prosecutor’s Office why it decided to offer a plea deal instead of seeking the maximum 20-year sentence.
Prosecuting Attorney Kelden Waltjen said in a statement:
“Our office has been in contact with the victim in this case, who is now an adult. Our office considers a victim’s desired outcome, potential harm and trauma, and input . . . especially in serious cases like this. While I cannot comment on specifics of this case as it is still pending, our office will be arguing for the maximum 10-year prison term.”
Waltjen added that the prosecutor’s office handed over the contents of the package from Lelah to the Hawaii Police Department, adding investigators have not yet referred any additional cases.
The prosecutor did not respond to a question about how many victims his office is aware of.
Hurt believes Lelah’s victims, along with the people of Hawaii County, deserve better.
“You’re accountable to the community. You’re accountable to those parents as to why you gave that deal,” Hurt told Hawaii News Now. “Did you really think that you couldn’t win that case in court? What was the reason? And you need to be forthcoming about that reason.”
HNN Investigates also emailed Lelah, asking him directly how many youth he’s sexually abused. We have not gotten a response.
Initially, Lelah was facing 20 years without the possibility of probation.
But with the plea deal, he could serve anywhere between 18 months and 10 years behind bars.
A judge is scheduled to hand down his sentence May 24.
The Hawaii County Prosecutor’s Office is urging anyone who may have been sexually assaulted by Lelah to call the Hawaii County Police Department and speak to Detective Scott Dewey.
Dewey can be reached at (808) 326-4646, extension 303.
On Hawaiii Island, the YWCA 24-Hour Abuse Hotline is available 24 hours a day to provide support and advocacy. They can be reached via call, text, and webchat at (808) 935-0677.
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