December 13, 2022
(McKinney, Texas) – Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis announced that Devin Tainatongo, 27, of Plano, Texas, was sentenced to 25 years in prison without parole after the jury found him guilty of Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Child. “This predator played hide-and-seek with his victim to create opportunities for abuse and threatened to hurt the child’s siblings if the child told anyone. But despite fleeing the country, law enforcement and our office refused to let him hide from the law. My office is grateful for the assistance of multiple law enforcement authorities in finding this child predator and bringing him back to Texas for justice,” stated Willis after sentencing.
Tainatongo was an adult who was known by and had ongoing access to the child. He sexually abused the victim over the course of four years, starting when the child was just 6 years old. The abuse typically happened when Tainatongo would play hide-and-seek with the child and the child’s siblings. Tainatongo threatened to abuse the child’s other siblings if the victim ever told anyone about the abuse. Eventually, the child disclosed the abuse to another family member. The abuse was reported to the Plano Police Department and CPS.
When the law enforcement investigation began, Tainatongo had already left Texas and moved to Guam, where he was living with his grandmother. The Office of the Attorney General, in conjunction with the U.S. Marshalls, extradited Tainatongo back to the U.S. for the trial.
Plano Police Department Detective Bryan Patten investigated the case. The child was forensically interviewed at the Children’s Advocacy Center of Collin County, where the child disclosed details about the abuse.
The jury found Tainatongo guilty of Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Child.
Judge Rayburn Nall presided over the case and assessed punishment at 25 years in prison. By law, a sentence for Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Child is without eligibility for parole.
Assistant District Attorneys Nicola Hines and Ashleigh Woodall prosecuted the case, assisted by Collin County District Attorney Investigators Greg Bowers and Sarah Putman, Victim Assistance Coordinator Shaunette Bronson, and Legal Secretary Christy Ware.
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