Testifying at a preliminary hearing Thursday in Wailuku District Court, the 19-year-old woman said she was concerned because Damien Paleka had threatened to hurt himself when she stayed with him in a bedroom of her family’s house in Maunaloa the night of Aug. 13.

At about 1:30 a.m. Aug. 14, “he asked me if I could just stay in the room with him and if I could just lay by him for a little bit,” she said.

“And I did, assuming nothing was going to happen,” she said.

She said Paleka turned her head toward him and kissed her twice before he got up off the bed and said he was going to get a condom. She said she was lying down when “he forced himself on me.”

“I kept trying to pull away cause it was hurting and I didn’t want to,” she said.

After about 10 minutes, she said Paleka stopped and went into the bathroom.

She said she was bleeding and had some bruising.

The woman said she went to sleep in the living room.

When she went to check on Paleka later in the morning, “he cut himself more,” she said. “He had scratches on his face, on his arm. That’s what I was worried about.”

Under cross-examination by Deputy Public Defender Zach Raidmae, the woman agreed she didn’t yell or call for help from others who were in the home that night.

She said she contacted a friend on Instagram the night of Aug. 14 before police were called.

Molokai police Detective Kyle Bishaw-Juario testified that when he spoke with Paleka the afternoon of Aug. 15, he said he remembered being in a bedroom with the woman but couldn’t remember what happened because he had mixed his medication with alcohol.

Paleka was taken to the hospital because of concerns about his health, Bishaw-Juario said.

When Paleka returned to the police station, officers again asked if he wanted to speak with them, Bishaw-Juario said. He said Paleka then said he did recall having sex with the woman that night and said it was consensual.

Raidmae argued that the testimony didn’t support two first-degree sexual assault charges requiring a showing of “strong compulsion.”

“He wasn’t holding her down, didn’t grab her, didn’t injure her in any way,” Raidmae said.

Deputy Prosecutor J.W. Hupp said Paleka used physical force, including his body weight, while on top of her. “He hurt her,” Hupp said.

“He forced himself upon her and sexually assaulted her,” Hupp said.

He said she had empathy for Paleka “even after he raped her because she was concerned for him harming himself.”

Judge Blaine Kobayashi found there was sufficient evidence to support two second-degree sexual assault charges alleging the sexual acts were done without consent. But he said the state hadn’t produced sufficient evidence for the first-degree sexual assault charges, which were dismissed.

Paleka’s bail, which had been $20,000, was set at $10,000.

After previous delays in the hearing, witnesses were allowed to testify by videoconference from Molokai on Thursday because of “the unique situation as a result of the pandemic,” Kobayashi said.

Had they traveled to Maui, the witnesses wouldn’t have been allowed to enter the Wailuku courthouse and other places until completing a 14-day quarantine, Kobayashi noted.

“This is an accommodation the court is making, not just for the state but for yourself,” Kobayashi told Paleka.

He is scheduled to be arraigned Oct. 7 in 2nd Circuit Court.

* Lila Fujimoto can be reached at lfujimoto@mauinews.com.