Author: Bret Gordon
I am unsure why I am continually surprised and appalled at the fact that BSMA and its echo chamber continues to manipulate information, twist words to fit their narrative and outright lie. This group of martial arts outcasts and self-righteous social justice warriors spend their days degrading others to compensate for their own shortcomings, but what else could be expected from people who claim to be 15th Dan and their supporters?
One troll that goes by the name "James Wimberley" even makes it seem like he has visited our school "undercover" a few weeks ago and regales the group with tall stories that anyone who has even remotely been to my school would know is false. No one that I am unfamiliar or already affiliated with has visited my school in over a year, period. But this just adds a cool twist to their story, right? Someone with "inside knowledge." He makes such wild assertions that I changed my belt three times throughout the duration of a single class to show off my colorful pieces of cloth, and that when questioned about Hasaka Yutashi (the founder of American Yoshinkan Aiki Jujutsu) I made excuses that I couldn't show the documents I claimed to have because I "don't keep them at the school." Of course, for anyone who has actually been in my school, they would clearly see the pictures of Hasaka sensei on the wall and the scrolls displayed in a shadow box, easily accessible for review (as seen in the image below).
One troll that goes by the name "James Wimberley" even makes it seem like he has visited our school "undercover" a few weeks ago and regales the group with tall stories that anyone who has even remotely been to my school would know is false. No one that I am unfamiliar or already affiliated with has visited my school in over a year, period. But this just adds a cool twist to their story, right? Someone with "inside knowledge." He makes such wild assertions that I changed my belt three times throughout the duration of a single class to show off my colorful pieces of cloth, and that when questioned about Hasaka Yutashi (the founder of American Yoshinkan Aiki Jujutsu) I made excuses that I couldn't show the documents I claimed to have because I "don't keep them at the school." Of course, for anyone who has actually been in my school, they would clearly see the pictures of Hasaka sensei on the wall and the scrolls displayed in a shadow box, easily accessible for review (as seen in the image below).
Don Roley, Dale Dugas and the slew of trolls of BSMA have relentlessly tried to prove my instructor and I are martial arts frauds, and when that didn't work (because of articles like this), are now clinging to a situation surrounding a gentleman named Patrick Justice who was the former President of the American Jidokwan Association until 2017 when we found out he was a convicted sex offender and demanded he resign (more about this situation can be read here and here). They claim that because we simply severed ties and didn't drag him through the mud 13 years after his conviction, we somehow support heinous and vile acts such as child rape and pedophilia. One of my students joined BSMA, since both Steven Hatfield sensei and I are banned from the group and can't directly respond to these allegations, called them out on this fact saying that on the contrary, it shows we are merciful. Of course, the echo chamber of BSMA couldn't handle being challenged and started grilling my student, first trying to discredit his support by suggesting he is a fake profile (an assertion made by a user posting under a pseudonym ironically). But it gets better...
After determining he was in fact a real person, they continued by saying we put further children at risk by leaving Mr. Justice on our website as former President because he could theoretically open a school independently and when a potential student would research him, they'd see he held a 9th Dan with us because we did not either remove him immediately from the website or make a public announcement about why he was no longer President. My student rightfully pointed out that while that situation is indeed possible, suggesting it has likely happened or that we enabled it is pure conjecture. Since they are apparently unfamiliar with this word, let me include its definition below.
And boy, could you smell the smoke coming out of their ears after that one! The fragile egos of BSMA couldn't handle being challenged, and muted my student from responding. Now, any group that silences the opposition has already proven they have no interest in the truth and solely want to hear their opinions coming out of your mouth. Don Roley, the cult leader himself, wrote the following post in response to my student questioning his authority. On Wednesday, September 23rd at 1:15PM EST, he wrote (with my notes in bold):
---Begin quote---
"Ok, we are having to take action. Bret Gordon had a student join here to try to defend him. Their tactics seem to be to make light of the seriousness of having a convicted child rapist as part of their organization. For those just joining us, here is a brief rundown on what is going on.
Despite talk of doing background checks for members of the US Association of Martial Arts (USAMA) run by Bret Gordon and Steven Hatfield, some of the members here found that a man named Patrick Justice gained high status in the USAMA despite being a convicted sex offender. Glowing stories about him were on the web pages controlled by Hatfield and Gordon, and he was listed as the head of a group called the American Jidokwan Association (AJA).
(Patrick Justice was never a member of the US Association of Martial Arts. The only thing listed about him on any website controlled by us is that he was the President of the American Jidokwan Association, which is an affiliated organization to the USAMA, until 2017 when he stepped down and I took over.)
As soon as we went public with the truth about Patrick Justice, all reference to him was scrubbed from the sites. The American Jidokwan Association was modified to show Bret Gordon as the head, proving that they had control of the site and organization the entire time. Patrick Justice was used as a figurehead to help give legitimacy by having an organization not under their control, but still supporting them.
Despite having him as the head of the AJA for years, Hatfield and Gordon say they have not seen him since (they claim) they finally did a background check on him and discovered his conviction. I should point out that it was a felony conviction and he did a lot of hard time in prison. That should tell people it was a fairly serious crime that had happened.
("A lot of hard time" meaning 2 years, which Roley admits later on.)
Gordon tried to make light of the situation. Their story was that they finally found out about him, confronted him and he agreed to step down. But they kept up everything about him and used him as a figurehead for the AJA. Gordon tried to say they didn't know the circumstances of the crime and tried to float the idea that maybe it was just a case of drunken sex.
(It was indeed drunken sex. Having since learned all of the details surrounding the case, the situation as I have come to learn was this: Justice and the girl were at a party and both became intoxicated. She misrepresented herself as being of legal age, both in her actions and failure to disclose her age. While this certainly cannot be supported, it is a far cry from Justice being the pedophilic predator BSMA has painted him to be. Of course, this still meant he could no longer be part of our organization as evidenced by the fact that within 30 days of finding out about his conviction, Justice was dismissed from our organization and we severed all professional ties with him.)
Two points on that,
1- It took a BSMA member only a phone call to find out that the victim was 12 years old. That is pretty serious. Why couldn't they have bothered to check if they are telling the truth and they didn't know what he did?
(When all of this was brought back up, we did investigate the situation to learn the details that I stated above. Furthermore, all of my students have been made aware of this situation as I do not hide anything from them and they continue to support our decision in how it was handled.)
2- If you don't know the circumstances, as they claim, why assume it wasn't that bad? Especially after they knew he did close to two years in prison and will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life?
(Because someone having a criminal record does not mean they are a bad person. We all make mistakes, and should be judged on the individual circumstances surrounding our situations. Also, the assertion that Patrick will have to "register as a sex offender for the rest of his life" is outright false. More on that below.)
Patrick Justice has multiple convictions for failing to register as a sex offender. It appears he moves to an area and refuses to register so that people doing a search in his area won't find him. When caught, he is forced to register and shortly after he moves, repeating the process. As of right now, he is in a new location but not registered wherever he is living now. He is breaking the law as I write this.
(Patrick Justice's conviction was for "Sexual Battery" and he is classified as a "(Pre AWA) Sexually Oriented Offender." This is the lowest tier of sexual offense, and according to this recent article by the Portsmouth Daily Times, "Sexually Oriented Offender: A person who has been convicted of, or pleaded guilty to, committing a sexually oriented offense, but who has not been designated as a sexual predator or habitual sex offender. Offenders with this designation are subject to the registration/verification requirements annually for a period of 10 years after release." Therefore, as his conviction was in 2004 and he served 2 years, this would mean that by 2017 when we found out about his conviction, he had no further obligation to register.)
The members of BSMA are concerned with why he is so eager to not let people know his status. It would be quite easy for him to set up a small martial arts class that would let him have access to children. By leaving up all of his credentials and such inside the USAMA, Hatfield and Gordon give support to Patrick Justice in any attempt he makes to gain access to twelve year old kids. If a mother did a web search of his name, she would find the credentials they had of him on the USAMA web site and probably be more willing to let her daughter train out of his garage. That worries us, and shows AT BEST a disregard to the danger it poses.
(Patrick Justice has been inactive in the martial arts since his dismissal from the American Jidokwan Association, and has no involvement in teaching or training whatsoever. He is an actively licensed private investigator employed by the State of Ohio, a position he needs to pass a background check to hold.)
Neither Gordon nor Hatfield has said anything negative about the convicted child rapist. They still refer to him as a good guy, and merely call what he did a mistake, and talk about how he is rebuilding his life on a better path. Did I mention that right now Patrick Justice is once again breaking the law by refusing to register as a sex offender wherever he is living?
(As stated above, Patrick is not breaking the law as he has no current obligation to register. His crime, which I detailed the circumstances above, was in fact a mistake. We do not support his actions, but do not believe he is a threat to society.)
On their blog, they posted a letter from the wife of the sex offender they got since we went public, praising them. Prior to this, they said they had no idea where he was and hadn't contacted him in years. So the quick reply in the form of the letter is rather strange if what they say is true.
(Don Roley and Dale Dugas have repeatedly asserted that we shared a letter of character reference from Patrick Justice, when in fact the only such letter we shared was Justice confirming the timeline of events and admitting to keeping the details of his conviction from us. He simply stated that he hoped the martial arts community would not judge myself or Hatfield sensei for his actions. The letter from his wife expressed similar sentiments, and affirmed Justice has never even been to my school in Florida or was ever employed by Hatfield sensei's Technician Dojo in Ohio. Both letters can be read here.)
As members of Safesport, they are required to report things like this. They did not. If they know where Patrick Justice is right now, knowing that he is breaking the law by not registering, they are supposed to be contacting law enforcement. If there was a return address on the letter they posted, then they are obliged to report it to the police. They have not.
(Just because we did not know where he was when all of this with BSMA started does not mean we did not know how to contact him. I know many people that I haven't kept up with in years and couldn't tell you what continent they're on, but if I needed to contact them I could. The internet is a wonderful tool. That said, I joined SafeSport in 2019 which was well after this situation with Patrick Justice from 2017 and therefore have no requirement to retroactively report the situation.)
Now, a student of Gordon's has joined BSMA to try to defend his teacher. It is highly likely he was sent here and represents the attitude of the USAMA.
(My student joined BSMA and defended us of his own volition. People tend to do that when they see a situation is unjust.)
His defense includes trying to say that a sex offender really isn't anymore at risk of repeating his crime as anyone else. This is what floored the admins of BSMA. As he put it, "you know its conjecture. You can play the odds in Vegas but nothing is a sure thing."
(My student stated that to assume we have endangered children is conjecture, as no evidence to suggest that has happened exists. As stated, Patrick Justice is no longer active in martial arts in any capacity.)
He tried to use a rule about proving things we have to shut down conversation by demanding we prove that a sex offender is a risk to others.
(Yes, Don. According to the rules of BSMA, you state "The most important rule is “You say it, you prove it.” The burden of proof rests squarely on the shoulders of the person who made the accusation or claim." But of course, that only applies to those who disagree with the narrative.)
People are put on sex offender lists for a good reason. Statistically they have the highest rate of re-offense. The odds of someone who raped a 12 year old girl doing it to another is incredibly high. This is not "conjecture", it is legal fact. The attempt to defend the support of a child rapist by downplaying the chances that such support might lead to more victims is very vile to us. We have made a decision.
From here on out in BSMA, we run with the basic belief that a convicted child molester is a great risk of repeating his crimes. If you want to be here, YOU CAN'T ARGUE AGAINST THAT FACT. We will not spend time trying to argue whether it is 'conjecture' that they might harm others or not. Again, they have registration for sex offenders for a damn good reason. We don't expect many will object to this ruling by us. Anyone that has trouble with it are encouraged to leave, now.
(Here it is, plain as day. If you question or challenge the leaders of BSMA in any capacity, you will be removed. This has already been demonstrated when all of this drama started, when I shared proof that Jack Stern was in fact a Judo student of Mifune Kyuzo, and Roley deleted my post and banned me. He has continually muted and banned anyone who has even remotely come to our defense, and presumably anyone who speaks out against them on any matter... But of course, that last part is conjecture too because I have not been following every single matter they post and therefore cannot make a conclusive statement. See how that works Don?)
As an aside, in one of his blogs Bret Gordon claims that as a result of our recent activity, he has been flooded with people asking to join USAMA. So, after we revealed that they didn't do a background check as they claim and let a convicted child rapist get high up in their organization, continuing to support him even after they found out, they have a lot of people attracted to them by that fact? Make your own judgements as to the background of many of those that would want to join after knowing these facts."
(Any press is good press, right? When you speak so much about a particular subject, people tend to go look for themselves. I should point out that while we have indeed been flooded with membership inquiries, not a single person has been approved for membership as none have met the standards detailed here.)
---End quote---
---Begin quote---
"Ok, we are having to take action. Bret Gordon had a student join here to try to defend him. Their tactics seem to be to make light of the seriousness of having a convicted child rapist as part of their organization. For those just joining us, here is a brief rundown on what is going on.
Despite talk of doing background checks for members of the US Association of Martial Arts (USAMA) run by Bret Gordon and Steven Hatfield, some of the members here found that a man named Patrick Justice gained high status in the USAMA despite being a convicted sex offender. Glowing stories about him were on the web pages controlled by Hatfield and Gordon, and he was listed as the head of a group called the American Jidokwan Association (AJA).
(Patrick Justice was never a member of the US Association of Martial Arts. The only thing listed about him on any website controlled by us is that he was the President of the American Jidokwan Association, which is an affiliated organization to the USAMA, until 2017 when he stepped down and I took over.)
As soon as we went public with the truth about Patrick Justice, all reference to him was scrubbed from the sites. The American Jidokwan Association was modified to show Bret Gordon as the head, proving that they had control of the site and organization the entire time. Patrick Justice was used as a figurehead to help give legitimacy by having an organization not under their control, but still supporting them.
Despite having him as the head of the AJA for years, Hatfield and Gordon say they have not seen him since (they claim) they finally did a background check on him and discovered his conviction. I should point out that it was a felony conviction and he did a lot of hard time in prison. That should tell people it was a fairly serious crime that had happened.
("A lot of hard time" meaning 2 years, which Roley admits later on.)
Gordon tried to make light of the situation. Their story was that they finally found out about him, confronted him and he agreed to step down. But they kept up everything about him and used him as a figurehead for the AJA. Gordon tried to say they didn't know the circumstances of the crime and tried to float the idea that maybe it was just a case of drunken sex.
(It was indeed drunken sex. Having since learned all of the details surrounding the case, the situation as I have come to learn was this: Justice and the girl were at a party and both became intoxicated. She misrepresented herself as being of legal age, both in her actions and failure to disclose her age. While this certainly cannot be supported, it is a far cry from Justice being the pedophilic predator BSMA has painted him to be. Of course, this still meant he could no longer be part of our organization as evidenced by the fact that within 30 days of finding out about his conviction, Justice was dismissed from our organization and we severed all professional ties with him.)
Two points on that,
1- It took a BSMA member only a phone call to find out that the victim was 12 years old. That is pretty serious. Why couldn't they have bothered to check if they are telling the truth and they didn't know what he did?
(When all of this was brought back up, we did investigate the situation to learn the details that I stated above. Furthermore, all of my students have been made aware of this situation as I do not hide anything from them and they continue to support our decision in how it was handled.)
2- If you don't know the circumstances, as they claim, why assume it wasn't that bad? Especially after they knew he did close to two years in prison and will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life?
(Because someone having a criminal record does not mean they are a bad person. We all make mistakes, and should be judged on the individual circumstances surrounding our situations. Also, the assertion that Patrick will have to "register as a sex offender for the rest of his life" is outright false. More on that below.)
Patrick Justice has multiple convictions for failing to register as a sex offender. It appears he moves to an area and refuses to register so that people doing a search in his area won't find him. When caught, he is forced to register and shortly after he moves, repeating the process. As of right now, he is in a new location but not registered wherever he is living now. He is breaking the law as I write this.
(Patrick Justice's conviction was for "Sexual Battery" and he is classified as a "(Pre AWA) Sexually Oriented Offender." This is the lowest tier of sexual offense, and according to this recent article by the Portsmouth Daily Times, "Sexually Oriented Offender: A person who has been convicted of, or pleaded guilty to, committing a sexually oriented offense, but who has not been designated as a sexual predator or habitual sex offender. Offenders with this designation are subject to the registration/verification requirements annually for a period of 10 years after release." Therefore, as his conviction was in 2004 and he served 2 years, this would mean that by 2017 when we found out about his conviction, he had no further obligation to register.)
The members of BSMA are concerned with why he is so eager to not let people know his status. It would be quite easy for him to set up a small martial arts class that would let him have access to children. By leaving up all of his credentials and such inside the USAMA, Hatfield and Gordon give support to Patrick Justice in any attempt he makes to gain access to twelve year old kids. If a mother did a web search of his name, she would find the credentials they had of him on the USAMA web site and probably be more willing to let her daughter train out of his garage. That worries us, and shows AT BEST a disregard to the danger it poses.
(Patrick Justice has been inactive in the martial arts since his dismissal from the American Jidokwan Association, and has no involvement in teaching or training whatsoever. He is an actively licensed private investigator employed by the State of Ohio, a position he needs to pass a background check to hold.)
Neither Gordon nor Hatfield has said anything negative about the convicted child rapist. They still refer to him as a good guy, and merely call what he did a mistake, and talk about how he is rebuilding his life on a better path. Did I mention that right now Patrick Justice is once again breaking the law by refusing to register as a sex offender wherever he is living?
(As stated above, Patrick is not breaking the law as he has no current obligation to register. His crime, which I detailed the circumstances above, was in fact a mistake. We do not support his actions, but do not believe he is a threat to society.)
On their blog, they posted a letter from the wife of the sex offender they got since we went public, praising them. Prior to this, they said they had no idea where he was and hadn't contacted him in years. So the quick reply in the form of the letter is rather strange if what they say is true.
(Don Roley and Dale Dugas have repeatedly asserted that we shared a letter of character reference from Patrick Justice, when in fact the only such letter we shared was Justice confirming the timeline of events and admitting to keeping the details of his conviction from us. He simply stated that he hoped the martial arts community would not judge myself or Hatfield sensei for his actions. The letter from his wife expressed similar sentiments, and affirmed Justice has never even been to my school in Florida or was ever employed by Hatfield sensei's Technician Dojo in Ohio. Both letters can be read here.)
As members of Safesport, they are required to report things like this. They did not. If they know where Patrick Justice is right now, knowing that he is breaking the law by not registering, they are supposed to be contacting law enforcement. If there was a return address on the letter they posted, then they are obliged to report it to the police. They have not.
(Just because we did not know where he was when all of this with BSMA started does not mean we did not know how to contact him. I know many people that I haven't kept up with in years and couldn't tell you what continent they're on, but if I needed to contact them I could. The internet is a wonderful tool. That said, I joined SafeSport in 2019 which was well after this situation with Patrick Justice from 2017 and therefore have no requirement to retroactively report the situation.)
Now, a student of Gordon's has joined BSMA to try to defend his teacher. It is highly likely he was sent here and represents the attitude of the USAMA.
(My student joined BSMA and defended us of his own volition. People tend to do that when they see a situation is unjust.)
His defense includes trying to say that a sex offender really isn't anymore at risk of repeating his crime as anyone else. This is what floored the admins of BSMA. As he put it, "you know its conjecture. You can play the odds in Vegas but nothing is a sure thing."
(My student stated that to assume we have endangered children is conjecture, as no evidence to suggest that has happened exists. As stated, Patrick Justice is no longer active in martial arts in any capacity.)
He tried to use a rule about proving things we have to shut down conversation by demanding we prove that a sex offender is a risk to others.
(Yes, Don. According to the rules of BSMA, you state "The most important rule is “You say it, you prove it.” The burden of proof rests squarely on the shoulders of the person who made the accusation or claim." But of course, that only applies to those who disagree with the narrative.)
People are put on sex offender lists for a good reason. Statistically they have the highest rate of re-offense. The odds of someone who raped a 12 year old girl doing it to another is incredibly high. This is not "conjecture", it is legal fact. The attempt to defend the support of a child rapist by downplaying the chances that such support might lead to more victims is very vile to us. We have made a decision.
From here on out in BSMA, we run with the basic belief that a convicted child molester is a great risk of repeating his crimes. If you want to be here, YOU CAN'T ARGUE AGAINST THAT FACT. We will not spend time trying to argue whether it is 'conjecture' that they might harm others or not. Again, they have registration for sex offenders for a damn good reason. We don't expect many will object to this ruling by us. Anyone that has trouble with it are encouraged to leave, now.
(Here it is, plain as day. If you question or challenge the leaders of BSMA in any capacity, you will be removed. This has already been demonstrated when all of this drama started, when I shared proof that Jack Stern was in fact a Judo student of Mifune Kyuzo, and Roley deleted my post and banned me. He has continually muted and banned anyone who has even remotely come to our defense, and presumably anyone who speaks out against them on any matter... But of course, that last part is conjecture too because I have not been following every single matter they post and therefore cannot make a conclusive statement. See how that works Don?)
As an aside, in one of his blogs Bret Gordon claims that as a result of our recent activity, he has been flooded with people asking to join USAMA. So, after we revealed that they didn't do a background check as they claim and let a convicted child rapist get high up in their organization, continuing to support him even after they found out, they have a lot of people attracted to them by that fact? Make your own judgements as to the background of many of those that would want to join after knowing these facts."
(Any press is good press, right? When you speak so much about a particular subject, people tend to go look for themselves. I should point out that while we have indeed been flooded with membership inquiries, not a single person has been approved for membership as none have met the standards detailed here.)
---End quote---
It should go without saying that neither Hatfield sensei or myself support child rape or violence against children in any capacity! Our entire lives have been dedicated to protecting others, with Hatfield sensei being a law enforcement officer and my background in private security and executive protection. Our martial arts teaching is centered around providing people with viable skills to defend themselves. If we had any reason to believe that Patrick Justice was a threat in any capacity, he would've been dealt with accordingly. Should we have removed him entirely from our websites after dismissing him? Probably, and I have already admitted it was a mistake not to do so.
So if they'd like to continue saying we are frauds because we do not share certain information publicly or play by their rules, they can. If they want to say we are unskilled, are bad martial artists and have no idea what we're teaching, that is their opinion. But to declare that we support such heinous and disgusting acts as pedophilia is insulting, offensive and libelous, and I will not stand for it.
So if they'd like to continue saying we are frauds because we do not share certain information publicly or play by their rules, they can. If they want to say we are unskilled, are bad martial artists and have no idea what we're teaching, that is their opinion. But to declare that we support such heinous and disgusting acts as pedophilia is insulting, offensive and libelous, and I will not stand for it.
P.S. - The assertion that we continued to actively list Patrick Justice as the President of the American Jidokwan Association despite my taking over in 2017 is based on a screenshot (see right) they took from the USAMA website of a now defunct page hidden in the menu. This page, listing Affiliated Organizations, was removed from our site and the main navigation menu long before Patrick was removed from the AJA. When he was dismissed and the AJA website was updated, as this page was hidden, I did not think to update it. This was an oversight on my part, and nothing more. When BSMA published this screenshot, I realized the error and made the correction. As of October 3, 2017, Patrick Justice is no longer a member of any organization I or Hatfield sensei run, nor does he serve in any capacity.
EDIT (September 24, 2020) - After this article was published, Don has continued his manipulation of facts by posting this screenshot (shown at left) to say that I am still lying about the fact that Justice was listed as President right up until they "exposed" us and I quickly scrubbed the website. They claim that this screenshot is from the US Association of Martial Arts website, when in fact it is from the American Jidokwan Association website first of all.
More importantly, they only show a small section of the page. Just a few paragraphs below that shows where on October 3, 2017 he stepped down and I assumed control of the American Jidokwan Association. This clearly shows he was no longer affiliated with us, and any reasonable person would see this as simply detailing the organization's history (which is why I was reluctant to remove him). But of course, that would disprove Don and we can't have that. Detractors must be silenced...
Here is a screenshot from June 4, 2018 courtesy of the Wayback Machine showing the entire section of the page that the small image above is from. You can see where it was made clear that Patrick Justice had stepped down as President and I took over. There should be no misunderstanding in this matter.
More importantly, they only show a small section of the page. Just a few paragraphs below that shows where on October 3, 2017 he stepped down and I assumed control of the American Jidokwan Association. This clearly shows he was no longer affiliated with us, and any reasonable person would see this as simply detailing the organization's history (which is why I was reluctant to remove him). But of course, that would disprove Don and we can't have that. Detractors must be silenced...
Here is a screenshot from June 4, 2018 courtesy of the Wayback Machine showing the entire section of the page that the small image above is from. You can see where it was made clear that Patrick Justice had stepped down as President and I took over. There should be no misunderstanding in this matter.
EDIT (September 25, 2020) - Some people have contacted us regarding this article, asking how an adult could mistake a 12-year-old for someone of legal age. First, let me state that I was not there and the information I have regarding the situation is secondhand. However, people also should know that the age of consent in Ohio is 16. Any number of factors could have contributed to the misidentification, and it's not mine or anyone else's place to judge a situation that happened over 15 years ago that none of us were present for. Let me be clear that I am not blaming the victim in this, and that the responsibility for Mr. Justice's actions rests solely on him. We at the US Association of Martial Arts unequivocally condemn all forms of child rape, pedophilia and violence against children. The actions of Mr. Justice in this matter are not supported in any way, and this article serves to shed light on a situation most have simply speculated about as well as clear up the blatant lies and misinformation spread by those who wish to tarnish our reputation and character. Through this and previous articles, we feel that the matter has been addressed in its entirety and no further discussion is necessary.
