Retired Army officer Lt. Col. Alexander Kaleolani Kayatani was briefly held in the Federal Detention Center, Honolulu, shown here in this undated photo, after being charged with attempted transfer of obscene matter to a minor. (Federal Bureau of Prisons)
(Tribune News Service) — A retired U.S. Army microbiologist is facing federal criminal charges after he allegedly tried to lure who he thought was a 14-year-old girl into a sexual relationship using an online dating application.
Lt. Col. Alexander Kaleolani Kayatani, 49, aka “Daddy Dom, ” was arrested by federal agents April 17 at Schofield Barracks after he went to meet 14-year-old “Izzy ” for sex after dropping his 14-year-old child off at school, according to federal court records.
“Izzy ” turned out to be a U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division special agent posing as a 14-year-old girl online.
Kayatani was charged Wednesday with attempted transfer of obscene matter to a minor in connection with communications he had between April 15 and April 17.
He was originally charged April 18 with one count of attempted coercion and enticement of a minor.
Kayatani is scheduled for an initial appearance, waiver of indictment, arraignment and plea Tuesday to the charge filed in federal court on Wednesday.
Kayatani was the chief of microbiology at the Tripler Army Medical Center and worked there until July 1, 2023. He served in the U.S. Army from June 28, 1997, until July 1, 2023.
On April 24, U.S. Magistrate Judge Rom A. Trader denied the U.S. Department of Justice’s motion to detain Kayatani without bail. He was released on a secured bond of $100,000, Trader ordered that the bond required a $20,000 cash deposit with the court before Kayatani was released from the Federal Detention Center, Honolulu.
The bond papers were signed by Kayatani and his wife who volunteered to be a third-party custodian of his supervised release.
On April 15, the Army CID agent acting as Izzy created a profile on the dating application “Feeld.”
In the profile, Izzy claimed to be 20 years old and was “here to have fun ! Cool vibes only ” and was interested in “casual, connection, fun, and FWB (Friends with benefits ), ” according to federal court documents.
The profile picture of Izzy was of her holding a skateboard and smiling.
A “Feeld” dating application user with the handle “Daddy Dom” was identified by the Army CID as Kayatani.
Kayatani matched with Izzy and messaged her using the direct message feature, stating “Awe …great smile.”
Kayatani introduced himself as “Alex ” and told Izzy that he was “from Hawaii but in the army and stationed here at Tripler hospital, ” according to federal court records.
The Army CID special agent posing as Izzy gave Kayatani a mobile phone number to contact.
About 11 minutes after Kayatani got Izzy’s number, he texted and Izzy told him she was “almost 15.”
Kayatani allegedly replied “Oh my … That’s not very safe sweetie, ” and “I wouldn’t want a boy to hurt you ” and asked her what she wanted to learn. Kayatani allegedly told the girl he could not wait to “… teach you.”
Court records document some of the conversations that went on between Kayatani and the Army CID special agent posing as Izzy. The language includes graphic descriptions of sexual acts Kayatani allegedly wanted to perform with the girl.
On April 15 Kayatani “steered the communication back to Izzy’s sexual lessons.”
Kayatani allegedly asked Izzy “What’s the first thing you want daddy to teach you ?” and suggested that “I want you to have your first orgasm” and then “… lose your virginity,” according to federal court records.
On April 17, surveillance teams watched Kayatani leave his house drive to drop off “his 14-year-old child to school, then travel to a residence in Honolulu, and later Schofield Barracks to meet Izzy.”
Once Kayatani got on Schofield Barracks using his retired U.S. Department of Defense identification card, he drove to the predesignated meet location.
When he got there Kayatani was arrested by Army CID personnel.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation was present at the command post and observed the arrest with CID.
Kayatani was interviewed and allegedly said that he met Izzy online and that he “knew her to be at least 14 years old.”
“Kayatani agreed that the conversation was sexual in nature, however had no intention of having sexual intercourse with Izzy that day. He stated that he was just meeting her to tell her that he can no longer talk to her in that manner, ” read an affidavit authored by an FBI agent.
Kayatani’s attorney, William A. Harrison, did not immediately reply to a Honolulu Star-Advertiser request for comment. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Nammar is prosecuting the case.
While leading the Department of Microbiology at Tripler, he was one of 13 co-authors of the February 2022 study “Persons tested for SAR-CoV-2 at a military treatment facility in Hawaii ” that was published by the National Institute of Health.
Before working at the TAMC, Kayatani was assigned to the Walter Reed Medical Research Institute in Washington and worked as a post doctoral fellow in the Malaria Vaccine Development Program at Walter Reed.
He also served as a scientist at the Center for Infectious Disease Research at Walter Reed and the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Kaiserslautern, Germany. Kayatani earned his doctorate from the John A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawaii.
Kayatani, who earned a Masters of Business Administration “while stationed in Virginia, ” was later selected by the Army to pursue a Ph.D. in medical research at a “school of his choice, ” according to an alumni newsletter.
Kayatani earned a bachelor’s degree from the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago.
© 2025 The Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
Visit www.staradvertiser.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
