TKD Champion/Coach Arrested

DerAuslander · 10/10/2006 12:10pm

Emboesso brought this to my attention, so I'm posting it.

ROCKVILLE, Md. - Charges are being filed against a local tae kwon do instructor. Ramy Latchinian is accused of sexually abusing two of his students at World Karate Masters in Rockville, and police want to know if there are more alleged victims. Investigators fear Latchinian may have a long history of sexual abuse.

The allegations were made by a former student who is now 24, according to authorities. She said the abuse began when she was 14 and continued for four years.

The other alleged victim is 16 years old.

Ramy Latchnian's school, WTM, is THE Maryland school for Olympic TKD. If you want to compete on an international level, his school is the one to train at. It is a pure sport school, with little in the way of Bullshido.

I have little love for him and the Maryland Taekwondo Association, but that's personal and in the past. If he did it, I feel sorry for the girl.

Given the amount of instructors being in the news of late for molestation charges, the cynical part of me wonders how many accusations are legit, and how many are cash-ins.

I'll be following this closely, and I'm supposed to talk to some people tomorrow to find out more.

Bio

**emboesso** · Posted On: 10/10/2006 4:30pm

I knew a guy years back, a great old time style TKD guy. He'd go to tourneys and always take first place in forms and fighting. Had a great school with great students. Was a super polite gentleman. No ego problems, just the nicest guy you'd ever want to meet. I pick up the paper one day and find out he'd been arrested for diddling his little boy students.

The first thought among everyone was that this was complete bull. He's an African American guy teaching in an African American neighborhood, and everyone was saying what a great role model he was for the kids, They thought the parents were after money from him or something. The neighbors were complaining that this school was the best thing in the neighborhood for the kids, and people are trying to tear down an African American role model, etc.

It was a bad scene. Until it came out he'd been busted for the same thing 10 years earlier with a boy street hustler. He's now doing 10 years hard time.

Then there was the famous Oyata-Higa case from about 10 years ago also. Oyata and Higa had some kind of blood feud against each other that dated back to Okinawa apparently, where they had the same instructor. This story unwound like a chop socky movie.

A female student of Oyata's claimed she was walking around lower Manhattan at night wearing an Oyata T-Shirt. She said Higa saw the shirt, became enraged, and dragged her between two parked cars and raped her.

The defense was she made the whole thing up to curry favor and sympathy with her instructor. Whatever happened, the jury deliberated briefly, came right back in and acquited Higa. We'll never know what really happened, but the brief deliberations by the jury sent a sign that it was all BS.

So Der, sometimes there is definitely more to the story than meets the eye. Sometimes not I guess.

**Sam Browning** · Posted On: 10/10/2006 4:51pm

If someone wanted to get a copy of the arrest warrant or any search warrants I could comment on how strong the case APPEARS to be.

***DerAuslander*** · Posted On: 10/10/2006 7:04pm

Originally Posted by Samuel Browning

If someone wanted to get a copy of the arrest warrant or any search warrants I could comment on how strong the case APPEARS to be.

PM me with the requisite procedures, and I'll do it.

**Sam Browning** · Posted On: 10/10/2006 7:10pm

I'll post it here. What you do is look in article for which court he was brought to. Then you call the court and ask for the criminal clerk. You provide the name and ask, is there an arrest warrant or search warrant in the file. They will say, yes, no, or yes but its under seal. If its under seal ask if its going to be unsealed automatically after the passage of a certain amount of time. Then if you can get it, you go to the court, with the file number you've obtained, and ask the clerk to make copies of said document. They'll probably charge you a dollar a page. If they ask why you want it., tell them you would for an internet based news service. But that shouldn't matter.

**Antifa** · Posted On: 10/12/2006 11:05am

I just wanted to throw something out there about this.

I noticed that this was the second time that a TKD instructor has gotten busted recently for inappropriate contact with his minor students.

I"m not blamming TKD as an art or saying its full of kiddie fiddlers. However, when you have an art that spends or seems to spend alot of time teaching children, some of the people attracted to it will be sexaul predators.

In older days, predatory types were often attracted to proffessions that allowed them access to and power over children: they often became clergy, educators, camp counsellers etc.

Thoose jobs now require (rightly) background checks. Now kiddie fidldlers will go elsewhere.

I suspect one of thoose elsewheres is going to be the MA community and other places that have amatures (and I mean people without an education in TEACHING) coaching children.

Folks might want to start pressure to have greater controls on who is allowed to teach children and work with children unsuppervised.

**kikkoman** · Posted On: 10/12/2006 6:28pm

That guys right in Maryland!!!!!!

***DerAuslander*** · Posted On: 10/12/2006 10:45pm

Originally Posted by kikkoman

That guys right in Maryland!!!!!!

*Der facevaults*

**emboesso** · Posted On: 10/13/2006 8:29am

Originally Posted by Antifa

I just wanted to throw something out there about this.

I noticed that this was the second time that a TKD instructor has gotten busted recently for inappropriate contact with his minor students.

I"m not blamming TKD as an art or saying its full of kiddie fiddlers.

I appreciate that. As a Roman Catholic AND a TKDist, this stuff makes my head spin.

I think your suggestion will come into play eventually. Here in NY they had problems with people opening up martial arts schools and weight lifting gyms, collecting yearly dues then shutting down overnight. So now I think they may do some kind of bonding on them.

This would be the next step. But like Megan's Law, it won't do anything about first time offenders.

Bottom line: Parents have to be alert. They can't rely upon the efficiency of the government to protect their children.

**Sam Browning** · Posted On: 10/13/2006 10:49am

At some point we're going to need to write some sort of article on how to spot such behavior among martial arts teachers. That's going to be difficult.