Big Island man pleads guilty to sexual assault of 2 teenaged girls

Nearly seven weeks after his arrest in May, 44-year-old Joseph Tibbs from Mountain View has pleaded guilty to multiple sex assault charges involving two teenage girls.

Tibbs appeared in 3rd Circuit Court on Monday morning. Judge Peter Kubota accepted his guilty plea for the following charges: two counts of first-degree promotion of child abuse and four counts of first-degree sexual assault.

Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 15. As part of his plea, he faces an agreed-upon sentence of 40 years in prison and a $50,000 fine.

Tibbs initially faced 15 charges, which included incest, second-degree promotion of child abuse and use of a computer in the commission of a separate crime. These charges will be dismissed at sentencing in consideration of the plea agreement, said Hawai‘i County deputy prosecuting attorney Annaliese Wolf.

Tibbs pleaded guilty to the six remaining charges, all class A felonies.

Tibbs was taken into custody May 29 after a months-long collaborative investigation between the law enforcement Internet Crimes Against Children task force, the Hawai‘i Police Department, the Hawai‘i County Office of the Prosecuting Attorney and Homeland Security Investigations.

Tibbs was in a position of trust over the girls, who are between the ages of 14 and 16, Wolf said. They are currently in the custody of Child Protective Services.

“This case still rates easily as the most horrific sexual abuse case that I’ve ever seen,” Wolf said, who has been in the position for 15 years and has handled a “significant number of sex assault cases and as of late child pornography cases on this island.”

Wolf said there were veteran officers who worked on the case “who also shared that sentiment.”

In the discussion of Tibbs’ plea agreement, Wolf said she wanted to pursue charges that carried the most punishment.

“I thought this was going to take two years to litigate, and that was a conservative estimate,” Wolf said after the hearing Monday.

During a hearing in June, Wolf said there was a quick conference with the court during which all parties agreed to expedite the case.

On Monday, Tibbs declined to have the facts of the case read in court, however, Wolf was not satisfied with that, saying: “I think there really needs to be something on the record.”

After being granted the reading, Wolf said the charges were based on Tibbs assaulting the teenage girls between Feb. 1 and May 29, the day he was taken into custory. Additionally, charges indicate Tibbs was producing or participating in child pornography of the adolescents.

After hearing the factual basis in the case, Kubota asked Tibbs if he believed he was guilty of the charges he was pleading to.

“Yes, sir,” Tibbs responded.

Tibbs requested that he not appear in person for his sentencing.

“Every time I come, it exposes the victims to further eyes,” Tibbs said. “I would like to prevent that any way that I can.”

Wolf objected to Tibbs’ request.

“I certainly understand Mr. Tibbs’ concern,” she said. “It is one of mine, but, you know, it is their (the victims’) right to do whatever they please under the Victims’ Rights Act here.”

Kubota rejected Tibbs’ request, saying: “He’s certainly going to be at sentencing.”

While Tibbs understood the judge’s decision, he told the court his request was based on doing everything he could to try and protect the individuals involved in the case.