242
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES             H.C.R. NO.            
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                     HOUSE  CONCURRENT
                        RESOLUTION

  REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES AND THE HAWAII
    COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT AND PROSECUTOR TO VOLUNTARILY
    DISCLOSE ANY INFORMATION REGARDING THE HISTORY, STATUS,
    AND DISPOSITION OF THE CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT CASE OF
    "PETER BOY" KEMA THAT THEY ARE NOT OTHERWISE PROHIBITED
    FROM DISCLOSING BY LAW.


 1        WHEREAS, Peter Kema Jr., also known as "Peter Boy", has
 2   not been seen by his relatives since February 1997; and
 3   
 4        WHEREAS, Peter Boy, who would be seven years old today,
 5   was alleged to have been given by his father, Peter Kema Sr. of
 6   Hilo, to an old family friend named Auntie Rose Makuakane
 7   during a trip to Oahu in August 1997; and
 8   
 9        WHEREAS, police have been unable to prove the existence of
10   Makuakane, and the case is being actively investigated as a
11   missing person case; and
12   
13        WHEREAS, while Peter Boy's parents have maintained that
14   they have never harmed the child, the boy's three siblings, who
15   have been placed in foster custody, have provided a disturbing
16   portrait of alleged abuse, including allegations that Peter Boy
17   was starved, forced to sleep outside, driven around in the
18   locked trunk of the family car, and sometimes handcuffed to his
19   bed; and
20   
21        WHEREAS, Big Island detectives have recently asked the
22   prosecutor's office to review the evidence they have gathered
23   in the case of Peter Boy Kema; and
24   
25        WHEREAS, the Department of Human Services, the Hawaii
26   County Police Department, and the Hawaii County Prosecutor are
27   prohibited by statute or court order from disclosing certain
28   aspects of this case; and
29   
30        WHEREAS, in the interests of justice, however, there is a
31   need for the public to be fully apprised of all aspects of the
32   case that can be legally disclosed without violating the law;
33   now, therefore,
34   

 
Page 2                                                     242
                                  H.C.R. NO.            
                                                        
                                                        

 1        BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the
 2   Twentieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session
 3   of 1999, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Human
 4   Services, the Hawaii County Police Department, and the Hawaii
 5   County Prosecutor are requested to voluntarily disclose any
 6   information regarding the history, status, and disposition of
 7   the child abuse and neglect case of "Peter Boy" Kema that they
 8   are not otherwise prohibited from disclosing by law; and
 9   
10        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Human
11   Services, the Hawaii County Police Department, and the Hawaii
12   County Prosecutor are requested to submit the information
13   requested by this Resolution to the Legislature by April 30,
14   1999; and
15   
16        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this
17   Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Human
18   Services, the Chief of the Hawaii County Police Department, and
19   the Hawaii County Prosecutor.
20 
21 
22 
23                         OFFERED BY:  ____________________________