Busted Martial Artists

[BoulderDawg]

I am considering having any students under the age of eighteen, arrive in uniform and change at home.

I would view that as a fairly radical reaction. In fact, if I had I child in the program, it would make me think there were problems at your school. Once you start down that road with several parents wondering why and speculating as to what's going on it would be almost impossible to go back and say,

"Nothing happened at the school. We are doing this just as a precaution."

[Taryn P.]

It might also cause some problems for people who come straight from school or straight from some other activity, or have somewhere to be right after class. Plus, if you take away the changing room, people will probably start tying up the bathroom changing in there. And it wouldn't elmininate the danger, as someone can always accuse you of having a camera in the bathroom. (Eliminating the bathroom will certainly lose you some students!)

[TenTigers]

hmmm...good point. In this day and age, it is a witch hunt. Even if someone were accused and found completely innocent, his rep is trashed. I have heard stories of PCFH's (psycho chicks from H3ll) making accusations after being spurned by their instructor. Psycho Ex-wives do this to ex-hubbies in divorce proceedings, as well.
Some scary sheet.
Even having backround checks isn't entirely accurate. What if the perv has been doing it for years, and never got caught? He could be the biggest perv and have a clean record.
Scary sheet, indeed.
So...how do we, (as Non-Perv instructors) protect ourselves and our schools?

[xcakid]

So...how do we, (as Non-Perv instructors) protect ourselves and our schools?

Heeeyyyy, I'm a perv. But only to those 25 and over. And women w/ Blondes or Red Heads only. Oh and those with hot bodies only. And gullible, very gullible. Oh and materialistc, but not very good at math. Hot body. I got some more criteria on the list, but some of you guys are probably working, but if you have the time. I can go on.................

[Xiao3 Meng4]

From http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8110520.stm

A man who sparked an international hunt in 2007 after abandoning his three-year-old daughter in Australia has been found guilty of murdering his wife.
A New Zealand jury convicted Nai Yin Xue, 55, of strangling his wife at their home in Auckland.
He fled to the US after the murder, but abandoned his daughter at a Melbourne railway station on the way - an act that was caught on security cameras.
The child - Qian Xun - was picked up by police, who nicknamed her Pumpkin.
She is now living with her grandmother in China.
Violent and domineering
The defence argued that Xue's wife, 27-year-old An An Liu, had died in a sex game that went wrong.
But prosecutor Aaron Perkins dismissed the claim as "bizarre", saying her body had been found in the boot of Xue's car, and that she had been strangled with his neck tie.

Xue, who did not give evidence during the trial, punched the air in frustration when the verdict was announced and said in Mandarin "unfair, unfair", according to reports.
The court had heard that Xue, a martial-arts instructor, was violent. He had threatened to kill his wife if she ever left him.
The prosecutor said An An Liu had lived in fear of her husband, who was angry because she had not given birth to a son.
The case grabbed headlines across the world after footage was released showing the abandoned girl's plight.
Xue was eventually recognised by a Chinese family in Atlanta, Georgia, who tied him up and called the police.

The "Accidental death during sex play" possibility aside, the guy first tried to hide the death and then abandoned his daughter in a train station. His sentence may be unfair, but not in the way he thinks it is...

Also, nice citizens arrest at the end!

[GeneChing]

You have no idea how many people will contact you to 'invite' masters in when you throw a tournament...

Long Beach businessman gets 3 years probation for human smuggling
From wire services
Posted: 06/23/2009 06:50:10 AM PDT
Updated: 06/23/2009 06:52:45 AM PDT

A 56-year-old Long Beach businessman was sentenced Monday in federal court to three years probation for his involvement in a human smuggling ring headed by his now-imprisoned wife.

Darwin Padolina pleaded guilty in March to one count of harboring and concealing an illegal immigrant for private financial gain over a 10-year period. The victim, identified today as his cousin, worked as a domestic servant in the couple's home for 10 years, prosecutors said.

"This is an ongoing, serious case," U.S. District Judge Gary A. Feess said before pronouncing sentence.

Padolina's wife, Evelyn Pelayo, 52, pleaded guilty in March to charges of forced labor and unlawful conduct with respect to documents in furtherance of forced labor, prosecutors said.

Pelayo is being held in the downtown federal lockup and faces a maximum of 20 years in federal prison when sentenced July 27 by Feess.

According to court documents, Pelayo recruited potential workers in the Philippines, promising them jobs in her elder care facilities.

Once the victims agreed, Pelayo contacted a co-defendant who was a martial arts instructor, who then entered the aliens in taekwondo tournaments in the U.S. as a ruse to bring them into the country, documents show.

Once the aliens were brought to Los Angeles, Pelayo informed them that they would have to work at her elder care homes until they repaid their smuggling debt, prosecutors contend.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandy Leal told the court today that when law enforcement officers approached Padolina after his cousin ran away from the home where she was being kept, he responded: "When your dog gets out, you have to look for it."

Feess said the statement about the dog "certainly suggests a less-than charitable view of a human being."

However, Padolina insisted he truly was looking for his lost pet when officers approached him.

"At the time officers came to my house, my dogs got loose," he said. "So, when I said I was looking for my dog, I was looking for my dog."

In sentencing Padolina, Fees said the term of probation would include six months of home detention involving electronic monitoring.

[xcakid]

additional charges for Joe Moscatelli of United Studios of Self Defense.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31172217/

[lkfmdc]

You have no idea how many people will contact you to 'invite' masters in when you throw a tournament...

wow Gene, I have of course been flooded with strange emails everytime we did an event, and while we knew there must be an "angle" we never knew what it was!

[GeneChing]

For backstory on Crispell see posts 416, 418, 433 & 455.

Martial arts instructor settles sex case
June 24, 2009, Daily Journal Staff Report

The tae kwon do instructor who prosecutors say celebrated his four-month “anniversary” with a 13-year-old student by performing a sexual act in a parked car pleaded no contest to oral copulation in return for no more than a year in jail.

Brendyn Scott Crispell, 20, could also be ordered to register as a sex offender when sentenced in September. Crispell changed his plea at a pretrial conference yesterday rather than set a new jury trial date, according to court records clerks.

San Carlos police arrested the Foster City resident March 2 after reports were made of a person putting sheets over the interior of a car’s windows on the 900 block of McCue Avenue in San Carlos. Police believed they were responding to a transient who was planning to spend the evening sleeping in the car. When officers arrived on scene, they found Crispell in the car with a 13-year-old girl. He admitted to performing a sexual act on the girl and officers found two stuffed animals and a jar of Vaseline inside the car, according to police.

Crispell told police he knew the girl for four years and the two met at the martial arts studio in San Carlos where he worked. On the night in question, they reportedly met in Crispell’s mother’s car after the girl was dropped off for practice. The couple knew intercourse was illegal because of the age difference but thought oral copulation was allowed, Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe has previously said.

Crispell remains in custody in lieu of $200,000 bail.

[GeneChing]

If you're going to take revenge, make sure it's on the right person.

NYC subway conductor sentenced to 15 years to life
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
(06-23) 11:29 PDT New York (AP) --

A New York City subway conductor has been sentenced to 15 years to life in prison for fatally stabbing a man he says he believed to be his attacker.

Manhattan Justice Carol Berkman sentenced martial arts-trained Maurice Parks on Tuesday for the murder of 40-year-old Flonarza Byas (BY'-azz) on Jan. 10, 2008.

Prosecutors say Parks mistakenly thought Byas was part of the group that attacked and stabbed him. They say Parks chased Byas, caught him and stabbed him 15 times.

Parks, who's 40, was convicted last month by a jury that rejected his self defense claim.

Parks' lawyer, Anthony Ricco, says his client did not intend to commit a crime, but mistakenly thought he was defending himself.

[BoulderDawg]

It would not have mattered had it been the right person. If you chase somebody down and stab them 15 times then you are guilty of murder.

[Raipizo]

that really sucks though .

[GeneChing]

There's nearly 50 articles on this guy in the UK press online...

Page last updated at 10:26 GMT, Monday, 6 July 2009 11:26 UK
Kung-fu killer jailed for murder

A kung-fu expert who strangled his partner over her plans to leave him for another man has been jailed for life.

Alan Jermey, who was found guilty of murdering Mercedes executive Kirsty Wilson on Friday, was told he would serve a minimum of 16 years.

The Old Bailey trial had heard how he set fire to her body at their home in Woking, Surrey, in August last year.

The court also heard that Ms Wilson had an affair with Simon Goddard, her boss, at a dealership in Hampshire.

Mr Goddard had already left his wife and two children for Ms Wilson before her death.

You have done a wicked act, murdering the mother of your own young children
Judge Martyn Zeidman to Alan Jermey

Jurors were told how Jermey had not been prepared to lose his partner of nine years, their two daughters, or their four-bedroom house, after she told him their relationship was over.

The car salesman, who worked for a firm near Heathrow and had a black belt in kung fu, throttled her, leaving few external injuries, they heard.

He secretly ordered a 100,000-volt stun gun over the internet so he could knock her out before killing her, and after pouring petrol over her body, he set it alight.

He arranged her body to make it look as though she had fallen asleep watching television and, as the fire took hold, he clambered on to an extension roof with their two daughters as one of them cried: "I want mummy."
Kirsty Wilson
The court heard Kirsty Wilson was in love with Simon Goddard

Jermey claimed in court he had gone to bed early and was prevented from saving Ms Wilson from the fire by thick black smoke.

Jailing him, Judge Martyn Zeidman told Jermey: "You have done a wicked act, murdering the mother of your own young children."

The judge said he had "imposed a life sentence of weeping" on his partner's parents and caused a "devastating blow" to his children, who were just seven and three at the time of the murder.

The court heard that the youngest child still asks her grandmother: "Can I get mummy on the phone?"

"How do you explain to a child of that age that they will never see mummy again?," the judge asked Jermey.

"Kirsty was an utterly exceptional person. She was kind, vibrant, beautiful, honest, very sociable, and with a great sense of humour.

"She will be missed desperately by all who had the privilege of knowing her. You have done a terrible thing," he said.

[GeneChing]

Moscatelli starts at post 480.

Martial arts studios still closed after arrest
Published: Monday, July 6, 2009
By Rachael Scarborough King, Register Staff

GUILFORD — The United Studios of Self Defense martial arts academies in Branford and Guilford remain closed, more than a month after owner Joseph Moscatelli was arrested for allegedly videotaping staff and customers in a changing room.

State authorities found that Moscatelli did not have a health club license for the studios, but they have not taken any enforcement action as the businesses have not reopened, according to the state Department of Consumer Protection.

Police arrested Moscatelli, 43, on May 28 after an employee allegedly found a setup including a camera and computer in a back room of the Guilford studio, at 631 Boston Post Road. Moscatelli was charged with two counts of voyeurism with malice and one count of risk of injury to a minor, after investigators reviewing the recording initially found images of one female employee and one girl under the age of 16 in a state of undress.

After detectives seized equipment and studied more of the recording, Moscatelli was arrested again June 5 and charged with two more counts of voyeurism with malice.

He was released on $175,000 bail and has not yet entered a plea in the case. He is next due in court Aug. 13.

Guilford detectives informed Branford police of the case, since Moscatelli owns the United Studios of Self Defense at 66 N. Main St. in Branford. Deputy Police Chief Thomas Fowler said that the evidence in Guilford did not indicate there was a crime at the Branford studio as well.

Both studios have remained closed since the initial arrest, and Moscatelli has not responded to phone and e-mail messages from the Register. The Branford studio has had a sign in the window stating, “Due to unforeseen circumstances we are closed today. We are sorry for the inconvenience.” A sign that appeared in the window of the Guilford studio the day after the first arrest saying it was “closed until further notice” was no longer there last week, but the listed phone number had been disconnected.

Richard E. Maloney, director of trade practices for the Department of Consumer Protection, said the department discovered following the May arrest that Moscatelli did not have a license for either studio. The state requires a license for martial arts studios as they fall under the same category as health clubs.

Maloney said that the DCP has not taken any action against Moscatelli because the studios have stayed closed. A company called United Studios of Guilford LLC did hold a license for the location, but it became inactive in April 2000, Maloney said, and it is unclear how long Moscatelli has owned the business.

The DCP has heard from several consumers who paid upfront fees to Moscatelli, but so far has not received any complaints, Maloney said. He added that consumers should first try to recover any losses by contacting the studio by letter, but there is a state restitution fund if clients cannot obtain their fees.

“Our investigation is active and ongoing,” Maloney said.

[GeneChing]

Jay Chou?!? GTFO of here!

Star-struck kungfu fan forced to check in weapon
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-07-09 08:55

Star-struck kungfu fan forced to check in weapon
A man carrying a pair of nunchakus in his handbag was forced to check in the traditional kungfu weapon before being allowed to board a flight from the Guangzhou Baiyun international airport in Guangdong's capital last week.

The man claimed he was a big fan of Taiwan pop star Jay Chou, and had bought the nunchakus to polish his kungfu skills like his idol.

According to civil aviation rules, nunchakus, knives and other weapons are not allowed on board an aircraft.

(Yangcheng Evening News)