A convicted rapist in American Samoa, Tone Pulou, has been granted work release by the High Court.
He will work as a janitor at the headquarters of the Congregational Christian Church of American Samoa at Kananafou.
Pulou is serving a 28-month sentence for raping a 13-year-old student while he was a teacher at Alofau elementary school .
The church's general secretary, the Reverend Reupena Alo, has told the court that the executive of the church decided to offer Pulou a job after receiving a request from the church's missionary chaplain.
The reverend says this will be the first case where the church employs a convict.
The prosecutor says she hopes it works out and that the church knows what it's doing.
