[i]‘Karate Kid’ perv case set to begin
BY MICHAEL WHITE
DAILY NEWS WRITER
A volunteer karate instructor molested young boys while pretending to adjust their uniforms, Suffolk County authorities say.
Now it is up to a jury to decide whether Richard Carfora is the monster his young accusers say he is. Selection of that jury starts today in Riverhead.
Carfora, 19, who was arrested in May, stands accused of bringing boys as young as 6 into a private dressing room at Zen Nippon Kempo karate school in Patchogue, then abusing them while their parents sat nearby.
Cops said Carfora, of Mastic, threatened to hurt the boys if they said a word.
But one boy told his parents, and police arrested Carfora soon afterward. Over the next four months, other boys also came forward with tales of abuse, detectives said.
Prosecutors said Carfora fondled at least five boys, ranging from 6 to 10 years old. He also is accused of sodomizing some of the victims.
The martial arts instructor faces 16 felony counts of sexual abuse, criminal sexual acts and endangering the welfare of a child. The most serious charge carries a prison sentence of up to 25 years, officials said.
He pleaded not guilty to all charges.
A karate student himself, Carfora had volunteered at the Main St. karate school as part of his own training, the school’s owner, Shawn Wilson, said after Carfora’s arrest.
Wilson said he was greeting parents just a few feet away while Carfora allegedly molested the boys.
Within hours of learning of the alleged abuse, Wilson said he fired Carfora, went to police, alerted other parents and installed surveillance cameras in his school.
Teenaged neighbors of Carfora, whom they nicknamed Chuck Norris, said he often made inappropriate sexual comments to them.
Originally published on January 17, 2006[/i]
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime_file/story/383280p-325380c.html
Another part of an ongoing case…
http://www.bullshido.net/forums/showthread.php?t=24328
http://www.bullshido.net/forums/showthread.php?p=651418#post651418
http://www.bullshido.net/forums/showthread.php?t=24297