HONOLULU (KHON2) — A Circuit Court Judge has sentenced a former Oahu middle school teacher to a total of 30 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a minor and producing child pornography.
On Wednesday, Judge Faʻauuga Toʻotoʻo sentenced 35-year-old Alden Bunag to 20 years in prison for continuous sexual assault of a minor under the age of 14 and 10 years for Promoting Child Abuse in the Second Degree.
The Department of the Prosecuting Attorney said he was also sentenced to five years for Promoting Child Abuse in the Third Degree but will serve it concurrently with his 20-year term for sexual assault.
Bunag was arrested in June 2022 after he sent illicit pictures and videos to another teacher on the mainland. In addition, Bunag admitted to recording sexual encounters with a former 13-year-old male student and sending it to others through a messenger app.
Court documents showed Bunag exchanged more than 3,300 messages, images and video files with a teacher in Philadelphia.
The Hawaii Department of Education revealed that Bunag has held various positions since 2012, temporarily teaching at Pearl City High School from 2020-2022, Ilima Intermediate from 2016 to 2017 and substitute teaching for Leeward Oahu District from 2017-2022.
He plead guilty in March 2024.
Bunag is not only a sexual predator, but a former intermediate school teacher who preyed on one of his students. The circumstances of the case as presented by Deputy Prosecutor Ayla Weiss convinced Judge Toʻotoʻo a lengthy sentence was warranted. We thank the FBI, U. S. Attorney’s Office, HPD, and Judge Toʻotoʻo for their work bringing this defendant to justice.
Prosecuting Attorney Steve Alm
Earlier this year, Bunag was ordered by a U.S. District Judge to serve a 17-and-a-half-year sentence for another offense but will serve his federal and state sentences concurrently.