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Ex-karate instructor gets 15 years for sex with students
A former karate instructor accused of having sex with two of his students in X and Y counties pleaded guilty Friday and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
In an unusual if not unprecedented hearing, NN., 45, pleaded guilty in a conference room at X Hospital in W., where he has been treated since breaking his back and being paralyzed from the chest down after a Nov. 19 fall in a cell at the X County jail in W.
NN. was arrested in August 2011 after he had moved to Minnesota, and accused of having sex with a two female students at ******Karate Academy****** locations in R. and S.E.
NN. pleaded guilty to using his position of trust and authority to assault the two girls between June 2003 and May 2006. Prosecutors said the two girls had attended the karate studio since they were 9 years old; the assaults began when they were in their early teens.
X County Assistant State's Attorney L.N. said NN. groomed one of his victims by offering private lessons, buying her karate uniforms and paying her entry fees into tournaments.
In November 2005, NN. called the girl's mother, beginning the conversation by saying he was "a very sick man," N. said.
However, an investigation did not begin until April 2011 after one victim came forward to report the assaults to R. police.
Both victims are in their early 20s and live out of the area.
K. County Judge J.H. and X County Judge B.F. accepted the guilty pleas.
NN. was wheeled in on a hospital bed, his left wrist secured to the bedrail.
When Judge B.F. asked why NN. was at the hospital, he said "I had a fall and broke my back."
NN. must serve 85 percent of his 15-year sentence, which equates to about 12 years and nine months. He also gets credit for about 28 months he has spent in jail while the cases were pending and must register a sex offender for the rest of his life.
NN. attorney P.T. declined to comment afterward.
In a prepared statement, K. County State's Attorney J.M. called NN.'s actions "disturbing, self-serving and unconscionable."
"Mr. NN. was more interested in taking advantage of his position to satisfy his perverted needs than he was in looking out for the best interests of the children he was responsible for mentoring," J.M. said. J.M. and X County State's Attorney B.B. praised the victims for coming forward.
A former karate instructor accused of having sex with two of his students in X and Y counties pleaded guilty Friday and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
In an unusual if not unprecedented hearing, NN., 45, pleaded guilty in a conference room at X Hospital in W., where he has been treated since breaking his back and being paralyzed from the chest down after a Nov. 19 fall in a cell at the X County jail in W.
NN. was arrested in August 2011 after he had moved to Minnesota, and accused of having sex with a two female students at ******Karate Academy****** locations in R. and S.E.
NN. pleaded guilty to using his position of trust and authority to assault the two girls between June 2003 and May 2006. Prosecutors said the two girls had attended the karate studio since they were 9 years old; the assaults began when they were in their early teens.
X County Assistant State's Attorney L.N. said NN. groomed one of his victims by offering private lessons, buying her karate uniforms and paying her entry fees into tournaments.
In November 2005, NN. called the girl's mother, beginning the conversation by saying he was "a very sick man," N. said.
However, an investigation did not begin until April 2011 after one victim came forward to report the assaults to R. police.
Both victims are in their early 20s and live out of the area.
K. County Judge J.H. and X County Judge B.F. accepted the guilty pleas.
NN. was wheeled in on a hospital bed, his left wrist secured to the bedrail.
When Judge B.F. asked why NN. was at the hospital, he said "I had a fall and broke my back."
NN. must serve 85 percent of his 15-year sentence, which equates to about 12 years and nine months. He also gets credit for about 28 months he has spent in jail while the cases were pending and must register a sex offender for the rest of his life.
NN. attorney P.T. declined to comment afterward.
In a prepared statement, K. County State's Attorney J.M. called NN.'s actions "disturbing, self-serving and unconscionable."
"Mr. NN. was more interested in taking advantage of his position to satisfy his perverted needs than he was in looking out for the best interests of the children he was responsible for mentoring," J.M. said. J.M. and X County State's Attorney B.B. praised the victims for coming forward.
