Update: Jury trial scheduled for Kona teen facing child pornography charges

12:52 p.m. Friday update: A Kona Circuit Court judge maintained $290,000 bail for Dominic Roberts, facing a myriad of child pornography charges.

During Roberts’ initial appearance on Thursday, Hawai‘i County prosecutors filed a motion requesting the 18-year-old be held without bail.

A motion on bail will be heard on Sept. 6. A jury trial is scheduled for Dec. 10, 2024.

Original post: An 18-year-old Kailua-Kona teen was indicted in 3rd Circuit Court on charges related to the production, possession, and distribution of child pornography.

Dominic Roberts was initially arrested in December 2023, at the age of 17, but has since turned 18. On Monday, the teen was found fit to be tried as an adult in the adult criminal court by a State of Hawai‘i family court judge.

Roberts made his initial appearance in district court on Tuesday where the court maintained his bail at $130,000. He was scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing on Thursday.

The preliminary hearing was canceled since Roberts was indicted in Circuit Court on Wednesday. A bench warrant was issued and a judge confirmed a new bail amount of $290,000.

Roberts is currently in police custody.

According to the indictment, Roberts possessed more than 30 images of child pornography on a cellphone with minors under the age of 12, including images of infants being abused.

Roberts is charged with the following:

• First-degree promotion of child abuse (production)
• Two counts of second-degree promotion of child abuse (possession of 30 or more images or videos depicting child pornography, and at least one image containing a minor under the age of 12, sadomasochistic abuse of a minor, or bestiality involving a minor).
• Five counts of second-degree promotion child abuse (disseminating child pornography)
• 2 counts of use of a computer in the commission of a separate crime

The charges stem from tips received from the community and the police department’s multiple federal partners that led to the execution of numerous search warrants, which led to the recovery of numerous electronic devices.

The offenses of use of a computer in the commission of a separate crime and first-degree promoting of child abuse are Class A felonies.

The offenses of second-degree promotion of child abuse are class B felonies.

Hawai‘i Island police offered tips on how to keep keiki, at every age, safe. They advise talking to young children about looking at inappropriate content, pop-ups (like ads)/passwords and not trusting everyone they meet online.

Teens should be aware of cyberbullying sexting, posting personal information and inappropriate information, and meeting offline.

“Start talking about these topics with your children early so you can be more comfortable talking about uncomfortable topics, this will help develop critical thinking in your child that will help them recognize these online risks,” police officials stated.

If a parent or guardian comes across these risks, police advise the following:

• Report the content to the website or the app where they found it and to the CyberTipline cybertipline.org.
• Teach your child about and monitor their privacy settings when utilizing social media.
• Help children engage in safer online behaviors: agreeing on what to post and repost, talk to them about using kind and respectful language, never reshare inappropriate content of a person to others.

Police also advise never giving out personal information or sending a picture without a parent’s permission. Children are encouraged not to write someone who makes them feel uncomfortable or scared and to tell their parents if that occurs.

“Remember that people online may not be who they say they are. Someone who says that ‘she’ is a ’12-year-old girl’ could really be an older man,” officials stated.