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UH sex assault victim receives apology from attacker

By Minna Sugimoto - bio | email

HONOLULU (KHNL) - A former Hawaii-based Army man, convicted in two separate sex assault cases on Oahu, apologized to one of his victims Friday. Mark Heath faces up to 60 years in prison for his crimes.

He once helped defend our freedoms. But now, a former Schofield Barracks soldier, convicted of sexually assaulting two women, has lost many of his.

"All rise," the court bailiff said.

Mark Heath broke into dorm rooms at the University of Hawaii, and stole money and underwear. He also fondled a female student while armed with a pair of scissors.

"I'm afraid to be alone in my own house," the sex assault victim said through tears. "I wake up at night and have to check that the doors are locked because I'm afraid that the one time I don't do it, someone will get in."

The honors student says the terrifying event took place shortly after she arrived on the Manoa campus.

"I had never been more than a three-hour drive away from home in Houston, Texas," she said. "It was very hard to be so far away from home all by myself, and I wasn't even in the dorm two days before this happened to me."

"I'd just like to apologize for the permanent damage that I've caused in your life," the convicted sex offender said. "Words just can't express how sorry I am for what I've done to you."

Prosecutors say the DNA sample Heath provided, after he pleaded guilty in the UH case, linked him to an unsolved rape at a Waikiki apartment in April 2007.

But sentencing for both sex assaults comes to a halt, when a legal issue is raised concerning the Waikiki case. Heath is disappointed about the delay.

"Not knowing if you're going to get probation or 60 years, you get yourself worked up," Dean Young, defense attorney, said. "And I think you get yourself to the point where you just kind of want to get it over with. That wasn't the wise thing to do in this case."

Sentencing is scheduled to continue May 20th.