Charges vs sex offender allegedly found with minor is dismissed

The Superior Court on Friday dismissed without prejudice the case against a sex offender who was arrested during a compliance check last August for allegedly violating the terms of his probation when he was found with his adult girlfriend’s minor daughter in his apartment in As Lito.

Dismissal without prejudice means the Office of the Attorney General may re-file the case against Frank Kaneshi.

Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho dismissed the charges and proceedings against the 31-year-old Kaneshi after the OAG and Kaneshi’s lawyer agreed to drop the case.

Camacho vacated the motion hearing set for April 3.

Assistant attorney general Frances T. Demapana sked for the case’s dismissal pending further investigation into the circumstances of the case.

Kaneshi, through counsel David George Banes, did not oppose the dismissal.

It was reported last month that Kaneshi’s adult girlfriend is pregnant. He filed a motion questioning the constitutionality of a statute involving the CNMI Sex Offender Registry that prevents him from being around minor children, including his own.

Kaneshi was convicted in 2011 for sexual abuse of a minor in the second degree. He was sentenced to six years imprisonment. After serving the prison term, he was placed on probation.

While on probation, the CNMI Sex Offender Task Force and the U.S. Marshal arrested him during a compliance check last Aug. 13 for allegedly violating the terms of his probation when they allegedly found him with his adult girlfriend’s 2-year-old daughter in his apartment.

Kaneshi, through counsel, filed last month a motion to dismiss the case.

Banes said the substance of Kaneshi’s alleged violation is that, having been convicted in 2011 at age 23, of having sexual intercourse with a 15-year-old girl, he was now residing in the same household with his adult girlfriend and her 2-year-old daughter.

Banes said that since Kaneshi and his girlfriend are soon expecting a child of their own, he will again be in violation if they maintain a family household together.

However, Banes said, the statute is unconstitutional, under both the CNMI and the U.S. Constitutions as applicable in the CNMI under the Covenant.

The lawyer said the charge against Kaneshi should be dismissed as it violates his constitutional rights to due process, equal protection, and privacy.

He said the U.S. Constitution provides that no state shall deprive any person of liberty without due process of law.