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Posted: Thursday, September 13th, 2012 8:57 AM HST

Kauai man sentenced 10 years for sex assaults

By Associated Press

LIHUE, Hawaii (AP) — A Kauai man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for sexual assaults and extortion in a case involving luring hopeful models through social media. Twenty-nine-year-old Leonard Alpeche Jr. was sentenced Wednesday for eight counts of third-degree sexual assault and six counts of second-degree extortion involving a woman and a minor. He pleaded guilty in a plea deal in May. Prosecutor Jake Delaplane says he used a Facebook account to assume the identity of a 15-year-old girl in the community. He then lured girls and women as a mutual friend of a photographer offering lucrative modeling contracts. Delaplane says victims sent him bikini and semi-nude photos. He then threatened to expose the photos and extorted sex or money from them. The Garden Island reports he apologized in cou