Ex-Maui inmate gets $10K in sex assault lawsuit settlement

HONOLULU (AP) - A former inmate who alleges Hawaii officials didn't protect her against a guard convicted of sexual assault is settling a lawsuit for $10,000.

The woman's attorney, Myles Breiner, says she reluctantly accepted the nominal amount because the state attorney general's office successfully argued to a judge that the state is immune from a federal lawsuit that doesn't adequately raise constitutional claims.

The woman was in a work furlough program in 2014 that allowed her to leave the Maui jail during the day. The lawsuit says former corrections officer James Siugpiyemal threatened to remove her from the program if she didn’t comply with his demands for sex.

She secretly recorded one of the encounters, which was played at his 2017 trial. A jury found him guilty of sex assault.

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