Busted Martial Artists

Wai Jia: The Kung Fu Forum Kung Fu Forum
1

It seems like I’m getting more and more of these sorts of news stories, sad to say. I can’t tell if I’m just hyper-sensitive or it’s a growing phenomena. So I’m going to start compiling them here, just to see where it goes. I know there’s some archived threads too, which could be linked in to this one. :frowning:

Karate Instructor Accused Of Molesting Student
Monday, November 12, 2007 12:27:42 AM

A karate instructor remains locked up on charges he molested at least one of his young students.

Stephen Gressett, 20, is accused of molesting a girl under 12 years old during a class at United Tiger Martial Arts on Conroy Windermere Road.

The girl said the incident happened more than a year ago. She told police there were no adults around at the time.

Gressett denies the allegation. He’s charged with lewd or lascivious molestation.

Investigators are now interviewing other students in class.

Marital Arts Instructor Accused Of Touching Female Student
POSTED: 5:44 pm EST November 12, 2007

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Some parents are standing by their children’s martial arts instructor who was arrested over the weekend. Stephen Gressett, 20, is accused of touching one of his female students inappropriately at the United Tiger Martial Arts on Conroy Road.

The alleged incident happened at the center more than a year ago. The girl reported it to police last week. Gressett has been teaching at the center for four years. Other parents told Eyewitness News he is innocent.

“I’ve known Stephen. I’ve watched him grow as an adult and he’s just become more professional,” said parent Deanna Batt.

Eyewitness News tried to interview Gressett from jail, but he declined. He also refused to take a polygraph test.

Police said they are now looking into the case further to see if there are any more potential victims.

2

more grist for the mill…

this story was featured locally in NY about a month ago…

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=local&id=5725423

Karate instructor accused of sexual abuse may be facing more charges
Also accused of secretly videotaping his students
Eyewitness News
(Long Island-WABC, Oct. 25, 2007) - A Karate instructor on Long Island charged with sexual abuse is now being investigated for even more disturbing incidents.
Suffolk County police say James Bonfiglio, the owner of Excel Karate Academy in Ronkonkoma, may have secretly videotaped his students and had questionable relationships with as many as 10 boys.
Bonfiglio, 37 was arrested Oct. 11 after a 13-year-old male student told authorities that Bonfiglio took him to his Ronkonkoma apartment and abused him in July. He pleaded not guilty to committing a sexual act, a felony and misdemeanor sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child, and was released on $60,000 bond.
The additional charges against the instructor were uncovered through the first investigation and are expected to be presented to a grand jury. Authorities say the found hidden cameras that were discovered at Bonfiglio’s apartment and in the karate school’s bathroom.
Also, Suffolk County police say a computer seized during the search of Bonfiglio’s apartment had videos of naked boys, that may have been shot with the secret cameras.
Bonfiglio’s attorney, Jerry Garguilo, said he was not aware of additional charges and had not spoken with the district attorney’s office. “I cannot speak intelligently on that at this point,” he said.

3

Ewww…:frowning:

4

I’m thinking of a word…

ah, yes

CAS TRA TION

5

here, here !!

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and it’s right in my neighborhood as well - ick…

7

Sad? Yes. Surprising? Not really. People just released from prison can open up a MA school without any real accountability. So one would expect that there are all sorts of deviants and misfits operating schools.

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[QUOTE=lkfmdc;816650]I’m thinking of a word…

ah, yes

CAS TRA TION[/QUOTE]

you mean 3 words?
castration is 1 word.

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[QUOTE=yutyeesam;816664]So one would expect that there are all sorts of deviants and misfits operating schools.[/QUOTE]
and then there are the ones who also molest their students…;):stuck_out_tongue:

10

Judo’s at the forefront again. 1st they introduced the belt ranking system & a couple of years ago: http://www.usjf.com/public/background.pdf

That’s just to get a Shodan. All MA instructors should have to do something similar to this regardless of style.

The B

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I think there is a program that the parents may just check on the list of child molesters or sex offenders near by including the MA teachers of course.

sort of a neighbor watch!.

:eek:

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Here’s another one

I got this one a few days ago.

11/9/2007 10:54:00 AM
Martial arts instructor to plead on federal sex charges
AARON KEITH HARRIS
Staff Writer

XENIA – A Miami Valley martial arts instructor is expected to plead guilty in federal court Friday morning to having a sexual relationship with an underage female student, court officials said.

Daniel P. Doyle, 31, of Spring Valley, was scheduled to plead guilty Friday afternoon to a single count of engaging in an illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place, but the hearing in United States District Court was pushed back to 9 a.m. Monday, officials said.

The plea agreement with prosecutors should mean Doyle spends between 100 and 120 months in prison, officials said.

Doyle was originally charged in Greene County Common Pleas Court after being arrested in May on suspicion that he had sex with a martial arts student while on trips to competitions in several different states and foreign counties, according to court documents.

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makes ya wonder doesn’t it?

if this is only the face of it, then I don’t want to know the body or root of it.

be upright, it’s what you can do about it.

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Here’s another…

…but it’s not sexual, thankfully. It’s just odd. You need to go to the site and see the pic to really judge.

Outrage as martial arts-obsessed teacher poses with guns in chilling internet photo
Last updated at 09:37am on 2nd November 2007

Comments Comments (7)
A teacher has sparked fury among parents after a chilling picture showing him holding a pair of fake handguns appeared on a popular social networking website.

English and media studies master William Cambata, 29, set up a personal page on hit website Bebo - which shows him adopting a sinister pose dressed in black, with arms crossed, each hand grasping a handgun.

As well as the disturbing picture depicting him glaring menacingly into the camera, Cambata went on to list his interests on the page, which included horror movies, martial arts and role playing games. Using strong language, he also spoke of how he made classroom bullies feel “insignificant”.

The site was spotted by parents of pupils who had visited the page - and after one concerned parent wrote to the school complaining Cambata’s site “glamorised violence” the shamed teacher was forced to apologise and remove his profile, although he has not been suspended.

A mother of one of Cambata’s pupils, who did not want to be named, said: "My son enjoys the lessons he has with Mr Cambata but after looking at the website I was concerned. I was shocked to see him posing with guns.

“The interests he seemed to have were unusual to say the least and I think as a teacher he should be keeping his private life private. Students had been contacting him praising him for the work he has done to combat bullying, but I don’t think it was appropriate to do this on a personal website.”

Another furious parent wrote to the school fearing the website “glamorised violence” and could encourage pupils to take part in “mind-disturbing interests” - and added that it could encourage a school shooting such as the Columbine massacre in 1999.

Rob Williams, headteacher at Malton School, North Yorks., - where Cambata remains employed - said an internal investigation by the school, following county council disciplinary procedures, have already started, adding that the teacher had been advised not to speak about the case.

He said: "I have spoken with Mr Cambata about the matter and he has deleted his personal space on the website Bebo.

"He explained to me that the website relates to an external interest in role playing games and the picture is related to this. As a teacher posing with toy guns this illustrated poor judgement and he has apologised.

"I can categorically state that this is not another ‘Columbine in the making’ and if I thought for a minute that a member of staff had posed with real guns I would have called the police.

There will be an investigation into the matter following North Yorkshire County Council disciplinary procedures.

“Mr Cambata is a good teacher who encourages creativity among his students.”

Twelve students and a teacher were killed at Columbine High School in America when two students went on a shooting rampage.

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Just another geek playing with toy weapons. The guy probably isn’t much different than any other MA geek playing with Chinese or Japanese weapons.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkLYYaTWoRc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6dUCOS1bM0

One of my friends with a school used to let parents drop their kids off at his dojo while they ran errands. He finally wised up and now makes sure a parent is on premises with their kid.

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The guy who ran the Karate school I attended as a child was busted for molesting a couple of his female students. Went to jail, got out, moved a province over, and opened up another school where he’s been since. Craziness.

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I saw this one on TV

One of the three local men arrested in the Flagler Beach sex sting filmed by “Dateline NBC” teaches children tae kwon do at a South Daytona martial arts school, police said.

That man, William Roach, 31, believed his female decoy “Amber” was only 13 years old, investigators said.

http://www.news-journalonline.com/special/predator/121906.htm

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I’ll never forget this one

Jody Plauche’ made national headlines in March
1984 when he was abducted by his karate teacher
and taken to Los Angeles, Ca. FBI officials
rescued Jody and his abductor was arrested. Upon
his karate teacher’s return to Baton Rouge, La.,
Jody’s father, Gary Plauche’, in front of a local
television camera, shot and killed the man who
kidnapped and sexually molested his son. The
sexual abuse had occurred for a period of more
than one year.

http://www.jodyplauche.com/

Clip of a CouryTV show on the case. WARNING: Site includes video of the shooting and NSFW ads.
http://www.sikvid.com/vids/2479.html

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Only five years probation, sounds well worth it to me.

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Who could forget the news about our old pals at SD?

[B]January 26, 2005
KVUE News

An arrest warrant has been issued for an Austin martial arts instructor accused of sexually assaulting one of his students.

Lorens San pedro, 28, is charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child – a first degree felony. San pedro is accused of engaging in sexual acts with a 15-year-old girl for more than a year. Police say San pedro knew the victim since the girl was 8-years-old[/B].“”

I wonder what ever happened in this case? I knew lorenz personally, was very suprised when i discovered this.

                                                                                    Peace,TWS