Dishonor in the ranks

Recently, in Winston-Salem, NC, Phillip James Every, 58, the owner the Karate USA karate school for over 30 years, was sentenced to four years of probation after he pleaded guilty to violating the state's sex-offender registry laws by working at business at which he was responsible for coaching minors. Every stopped teaching at the school after he was convicted in 2001 of indecent liberties with a child, for talking lewdly on the phone with a minor student of his while masturbating, and for assault on a female, for rubbing a student's buttocks, but he returned to teaching karate after he finished probation. At the time, this wasn’t a crime, but in 2006, the state's laws changed to ban sex offenders from coaching or supervising children. The State Bureau of Investigation sent letters to all sex offenders notifying them of the change, but Every kept teaching karate. Karate USA is now closed.