By Autumn Coleman
ASOTIN - The rape trial of a Clarkston middle school teacher continued Wednesday.
The prosecution called more witnesses to the stand in the case against 37-year-old Brian W. Morrow, a 7th grade teacher and karate instructor charged with Rape of a Child in the Third Degree and Child Molestation in the Third Degree. The alleged victim known as K. B. in court records, was 15 at the time of the alleged crimes. She is now 18, and was cross-examined by the defense Wednesday morning.
According to K.B., Morrow touched her inappropriately and performed oral sex on her at his martial arts school.
K.B.'s mother also took the stand. She told the court her daughter had a key to the DoJo (martial arts studio) and would stay there until other students had left.
Defense attorney Tom Ledgerwood questioned the authenticity of the key, saying his client, Brian Morrow, claims he never gave K.B. a key.
The trial is scheduled to resume Thursday morning at 9 a.m.
Sounds to me that he is either a freak or its payback from the girl for him not having the same feelings. I always wondered why someone regardless of age waits several years before coming forward.
Clarkston karate instructor cleared of child molestation charges
Clarkston teacher cleared of child molestation charges
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
February 24, 2007
ASOTIN, Wash. – An Asotin County Superior Court jury deliberated for three hours before clearing a Clarkston karate instructor and middle school teacher of charges he molested a 15-year-old girl. Brian W. Morrow, 38, sobbed with relief in a packed courtroom as the jury returned their verdict Friday evening. He faced charges of third-degree child rape and third-degree child molestation, based on allegations from a karate and Lincoln Middle School student identified as K.B. in court documents.
The girl insisted that Morrow had touched her sexually on 23 occasions following karate lessons in 2003 and 2004. Morrow denied it, and his attorney, Thomas Ledgerwood, sought to disprove that his client and the girl could have been alone together that often. He also pointed to inconsistencies in the girl’s account and to her acknowledged crush on the teacher. Whitman County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Carol La Verne, who handled the case in this rural southeastern corner of Washington state, congratulated Ledgerwood after the verdict and shook his hand. “You really beat me up,” she said. Some of Morrow’s karate students and other instructors testified that there were always two adults at the school when there were minors present.
However, another student, Nick Lockwood, testified that he had been alone with Morrow at the karate school several times. Lockwood also testified that Morrow had pressured him about what to tell police investigating the girl’s allegations - and that led to Lockwood quitting the karate school. “He told me what to remember when I said I didn’t remember details,” Lockwood said. “The end result was that I didn’t want to go there anymore. My mother and I were upset.”