Former Osceola martial-arts instructor accused of raping 14-year-old girl
John Thomas Durinick also faces more than three dozen molestation charges in other incidents.
May 10, 2010|By Walter Pacheco, Orlando Sentinel
A former Osceola County martial-arts instructor faces more sexual-related charges after an ex-student told deputies he had raped her two years ago, authorities said Monday.
Deputies arrested John Thomas Durinick on sexual-battery charges on Thursdayshortly after he had bonded out of the Osceola County Jail on molestation charges stemming from separate incidents.
Reports from the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office show the victim told investigators that Durinick, 39, had taken her into a room and attacked her at the John Emmons Tae Kwon Do Martial Arts Studio in 2008.
The victim was 14 when that sexual battery allegedly took place, deputies said.
Jail records show Durinick, of St. Cloud, posted a $50,000 bond on Friday and left the Osceola County Jail, spokesman Larry Krause said.
Investigators said the victim and her mother approached the owner of the martial-arts studio with the allegations on April 26. Martial-arts studio owner John Emmons called deputies and reported the alleged attack.
Sheriff’s deputies said the victim told them Durinick had attacked her on the day of her tests at the studio in the 1000 block of Aeronautical Drive in Kissimmee. He “began touching her inappropriately underneath her clothes,” the report shows.
Detectives tried to interview Durinick on Thursday while he was being fitted with an ankle monitor prior to his release from the jail, but he refused to speak with them, sheriff’s spokeswoman Twis Lizasuain said.
Hours after he bonded out of jail, deputies arrested him on sexual-battery charges.
The instructor also faces 40 counts of lewd or lascivious molestation, five counts of lewd/lascivious molestation and one count of false imprisonment in other cases.
Durinick has been accused of having an inappropriate relationship with two 15-year-old girls spanning 18 months, St. Cloud police records show.
In one case, a girl tried to get away from him during an encounter, resulting in the charge of false imprisonment.
Sad news.