Martial arts teacher pleads guilty to harassing woman
A Grimsby martial arts teacher pleaded guilty to criminal harassment Friday, in a case involving a woman with whom he once had an intimate relationship.
Shane Weaver, 36, will be sentenced Sept. 20 after admitting he engaged in threatening conduct, causing the woman to fear for her safety.
Assistant Crown attorney Tom Jacob said the Smithville man, a black belt martial arts instructor, met the woman through his Christie St. school.
When she was 18, they began an intimate relationship that included taking sexually explicit photos with mutual knowledge and consent.
After the relationship was over, Weaver approached the woman on July 23, 2009 with a typed letter and the explicit photos, suggesting she’d have to meet him or her social status would be ruined.
She went to the police and Weaver acknowledged what had happened.
Police searched his computer and found a video presentation that contained threats to the woman, her status and her reputation. It contained photos of her in sexual poses.
Jacob made the letter an exhibit, as well as captions from a powerpoint presentation found on the computer.
“Given the history between the two, the letter tendered and the captions, it would cause (the woman) concern for her safety,” Jacob said.
The woman’s identity is protected under a publicaton ban imposed by the court.
Weaver was originally charged with sexual exploitation, because it was believed the woman was under 18. The charge is laid in cases involving minors whether the contact is consensual or not.
Weaver operates Red Griffin Martial Arts in Grimsby and won the business award of excellence from the chamber of commerce in 2007. He’s also given anti-bullying talks at public schools, talking about his experiences being bullied as a child and how he turned them into a positive.
http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2712514
Yes, it says publicaton on the article.