Accused Rapist Admits Having Sex With 11-Year-Old, Puts Part Of Blame On Her

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A 19-year-old man behind bars admits to sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl and partly blames his victim for his arrest.

Full of tears and now fear, 19-year-old Alex Sunahara wants out of jail.

"Go to college, get a job, turn my life around," he said.

He admitted to CBS13's Ron Jones during a jailhouse interview that he had sex with an 11-year-old girl in Old Sacramento near the river.

But he put part of the blame on her.

"Yeah, but I didn't force her to do anything," he said.

He says he met her a week ago through mutual friends, and they took her for a ride in his car. That's when he says his buddies dared him to have sex with the 11-year-old.

"I should have known better," he said.

Officers say the victim's frantic mom had no idea her daughter was with Sunahara or his buddies, so she filed a missing person's report.

But wasn't it obvious to Sunahara she was only 11?

SUNAHARA: I had a feeling, yeah.

REPORTER: You had a feeling she was underage?

SUNAHARA: Yeah, something wasn't right in the back of my mind.

REPORTER: But you did it anyway?

SUNAHARA: Yeah, pretty much.

Hours later while at the movies with the victim, his buddies got a call from a friend saying the cops were desperately searching for the 11-year-old.

"That's when my heart sank," he said.

He dropped her off and kept going. But within a week, police hunted him down at gunpoint.

"This is really terrifying especially when they pulled guns on me yesterday," he said.

His excuse was he was a virgin who just gave into peer pressure. That's something he'll have to explain to a judge.

"It was my fault for listening," he said. "But I don't have any control over that now."

Officers say the victim is back with her family. Sunahara is facing lewd acts with a child and other felony charges.