City Prosecutor Peter Carlisle lashed out yesterday at a state judge's decision allowing convicted child abuser Rita Makekau to remain out of prison while an appeal of the case is pursued.

Makekau, 52, pleaded no contest in October to eight counts of assaulting children in what prosecutors called a "house of torture" on the Leeward O'ahu coast.

Circuit Judge Virginia Crandall sentenced Makekau last month to five years in prison but yesterday delayed imposition of the sentence while Makekau appeals the case. The appeal is based on her belief that state courts have no jurisdiction over her because she is a Native Hawaiian.

Makekau calls herself "her Highness Rita Kulamika Makekau, Royal Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Hawaiian Kingdom Government," a sovereignty group that has been protesting since May on the grounds of 'Iolani Place, questioning the authority of state and federal governments in Hawai'i.

"No matter what you think about sovereignty, that is not a meritorious (appellate) claim," Carlisle said in an afternoon news conference.

"The Supreme Court is perfectly aware of that, as should be Circuit Court judges," Carlisle said. "Why are we delaying the inevitable?"

He said his office may file a motion for Crandall to reconsider her decision or it may seek an expedited appeal of the case.

Attempts to obtain a reaction from Crandall or from the sate Judiciary yesterday were unsuccessful.

Carlisle spoke of Makekau's physical abuse of her five nieces and nephews, noting that, among other things, she had broken and chipped the children's teeth with a hammer.

Sometimes the children were fed "dog food from a bowl" and one boy was forced to sleep under the house with dogs, bugs and vermin, Carlisle said.

Carlisle said Makekau "laughed" when she abused the children, who are now between 10 and 18 years old and living in foster homes.

The defendant doesn't deserve "an ounce of leniency and should have been sent to jail as is required by Hawai'i law," the prosecutor said.

Collete Dhakwha, a court-appointed attorney who represents the legal interests of the children, said she reached four of the children by telephone this afternoon to tell them what the judge had decided.

"They yelled. They were angry and disappointed," she said.

"There was some profanity. One of them said it was 'unfair.' Another said, 'the court system doesn't work,'" said Dhakwha.

Dhakwha said she arrived at court yesterday morning shortly after 11 a.m., when the hearing was scheduled to begin, only to learn that it was already over because Crandall had changed the schedule.

When Dhakwha, a former prosecutor, learned of Crandall's ruling, "I was livid," she said. "I was just beside myself."

Two state social workers who work with the children also missed the hearing, said Dhakwha.

She said she would tell the children that Makekau "pulled another legal maneuver and the judge let her do it."

"It's been more than two years since she was indicted and the case isn't over yet," Dhakwha said.

Carlisle's office had asked Crandall last month to sentence Makekau, an unemployed truck driver, to 41 years in prison.

Crandall called Makekau's behavior "unacceptable" and sentenced her to five years behind bars.

Also convicted in the case were Barbara and Gabriel Kalama, Makekau's daughter and son-in-law.

Gabriel Kalama, 31, pleaded no contest in August to two counts of second-degree assault and five counts of abuse of a family member.

Barbara Kalama, 28, pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree child endangerment and six counts of abuse of a family member.

Crandall sentenced each of them last month to five years of probation.