Man Arrested For Sexual Assault of a Minor

A Hilo man has been charged with several offenses after police found him with an unresponsive minor in his vehicle Monday.

On May 25, at 1:06 a.m., South Hilo patrol officers responded to Maile Street on a report of the possible location of a missing minor female. Responding officers contacted a male, later identified as Robert Alan Kinoshita, 55, standing next to a parked vehicle. Upon approaching Kinoshita, he appeared to discard items he retrieved from inside the vehicle, a police report said.

Upon checking, officers observed an unresponsive female in the passenger seat, who was identified as the missing minor. Due to circumstances surrounding this incident, officers initiated sexual assault and illegal drug cases. Kinoshita was arrested and transported to the Hilo Police Cellblock.

Detectives from the Area I Juvenile Aid Section and the Area I Vice Section executed search warrants on the vehicle and the items thrown from the vehicle, and methamphetamine was located.

On Tuesday, after conferral with the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney, detectives from the Area I Juvenile Aid Section charged Kinoshita with Sexual Assault in the First Degree and three counts of Promotion of a Dangerous Drug in the Third Degree. His bail is set at $80,000. Kinoshita is currently being held in the Hilo Police Cellblock awaiting his preliminary hearing in Hilo District Court.