Following grand jury proceedings, Duayne Richard Peters was charged with five counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct as a first-degree felony and three counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct as a first-degree felony.
He was also charged with a special allegation of vulnerable victim because the victim was younger than 14 years old.
Guam law provides that a criminal case may be dismissed unless a person who has been arrested goes before a judge within 48 hours of arrest. GPD officers arrested Peters at around 1:30 pm on Saturday, February 15, 2020.
His wife, Natasha Peters, was arrested at around 5:30 pm the same day. The next available hearing was Monday, February 17, 2020 at 2:00 pm, more than 48 hours after Duayne was arrested, but within 48 hours of Natasha’s arrest.
“We will prosecute people who prey on children,” said Attorney General Leevin Taitano
Camacho. “The developments in this case may have seemed unfair, but we did not want the case against the male defendant to be dismissed because of a technicality.”
Natasha Peters was also indicted today by the grand jury. She remains detained at the
Department of Corrections and a warrant of arrest was issued for Duayne Peters.
A grand jury is made up of 16-23 members of the community who hear evidence and vote on whether there is reasonable cause to believe that the accused has committed a crime.
At least 12 grand jury members must agree that reasonable cause exists in order to return what is called a “true bill.”
Today was the first available day for the grand jury to hear the charges against the male defendant.
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