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PSA: Patrick Justice

8/13/2020

26 Comments

 
Author: Bret Gordon
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Recently some information has been made public about a former member of the American Jidokwan Association, an organization I run alongside my instructor Steven Hatfield. Patrick Justice was a lifelong friend and student of Hatfield's in the art of American Jidokwan Taekwondo. In 2011 he was made President of the organization, a position he held until 2017. During this time, his involvement in the martial arts ranged between teaching adult students privately and being inactive at various periods. His position in the American Jidokwan Association was largely administrative and symbolic, as at the time Hatfield was not teaching Taekwondo and the other schools in the organization operated independently. 

​Customary for our organizations when accepting new members (especially in an administrative capacity) is to run a background check on them. Due to the friendship between Hatfield and Justice, this was never done on Justice. In late 2016 I became actively involved in the American Jidokwan Association on an organizational level, having been a member for several years, becoming the Florida State Representative as the organization began expanding outside of Ohio. In 2017, as Hatfield and I were sitting around discussing the organization's growth and other prospective members, the topic of Justice's background check came up and we realized one had never been done. What we found was shocking, to say the least. 

In 2004, Patrick Justice was convicted of sexual battery and served three years in prison (view source). We immediately confronted him about this, giving him the option to either step down or be removed publicly. He was upfront about his record and chose to step down. He turned in his certifications and was dismissed from the American Jidokwan Association entirely. On October 3, 2017, I replaced him as President of the AJA which I hold to this day. 

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Now, I must say as the new President of the AJA and having met Justice on several occasions, bearing witness to the reformation and effort he had taken to get his life together in the 13 years since the incident, I made the decision not to publicly expose him as a sexual offender. I felt that we had handled the situation professionally and chose to keep it internal. There was no further affiliation between the AJA and Justice as he was dismissed immediately and stripped of all rank. This decision was entirely my own as President of the organization, and not influenced by Hatfield in any way. I also chose to leave him on our website, specifically the history section, as he was part of the organization's history but as of this morning, he has since been removed.

Prior to running his background check in 2017, neither I or Hatfield were aware of the conviction. Although Hatfield and Justice had known each other beforehand, it was not uncommon for Justice to travel, move and lose contact for various periods of time. Therefore, his three year absense was not questioned. It was an unfortunate oversight, and having known Hatfield as deeply as I do, I can assure you that had he known prior to 2017 it would've been handled immediately. When the conviction came to light is when it was addressed. I must note that he was never employed as an instructor at Hatfield's school, and never taught classes there except as a guest under the supervision of Hatfield. Justice was never left alone with any students, nor is any guest instructor at Hatfield's school. 

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On behalf of the American Jidokwan Association, I would like to publicly apologize for the way this situation was handled. Although he had been removed from the organization, we should've made a public announcement regarding the situation back in 2017 and erased him from our history. Not doing so was poor judgement, and I understand the implications that may arise from this decision.

Sexual offense is not something to be taken lightly, and as a SafeSport certified martial artist, I am acutely aware of this problem across the martial arts (and youth sports in general) and am committed to ensuring not just those who are convicted offenders but all those displaying patterns of predatory behavior are not involved in the teaching of martial arts in any capacity. Both Hatfield and I denounce sexual offenders and violent criminals in all forms, and do not welcome them in our circle of friends, members or affiliates. 


P.S. - There is an image on the Technician Dojo website of Hatfield and the instructors of the school, and it has been erroneously claimed that Justice is in this picture being represented as an instructor. The gentleman claimed to be Justice is actually John Bailey, 3rd Dan in Ryu-Saiichi-Do Karate. He is not affiliated to Justice in any way. 
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EDIT (August 13, 2020) - In order to clarify for anyone who has read or will read this in the future, the options provided to Patrick Justice are the same options given in any professional organization or corporation when the person in question is found to have committed an offense warranting separation. He was given the choice to step down or be removed publicly, and we accepted his resignation. At the time, we felt severing all ties was an adequate and timely response, carried out immediately after we became aware of the conviction. While I have apologized for not making his conviction public through the association, although it is already easily accessible public record, please do not mistake this for support or concealment of Justice's actions.

EDIT (August 14, 2020) - The trolls who continue to attack us have clung onto this situation as their last attempt to discredit Hatfield and myself, after a previous article (click here) fully detailed all of our credentials and put that scrutiny to rest. First, they falsely claim that we knew about Justice's conviction prior to 2017 to which I maintain that we had no knowledge of it, and acted immediately after becoming aware to ensure the safety of our students and the integrity of our organization. But most disturbingly, Don Roley and "Lordus Sapiens" outright lie that Justice was convicted of a heinous act, rape of a minor under 13-years-old. The background check we conducted showed that these charges were dismissed. Therefore, claiming Justice is a "pedophile" or "child rapist" is explicitly incorrect and defamatory, and no one knows the origin of such charges to begin with. I only bring it up now to silence the liars, as judging someone based on charges that were dismissed is asinine.

Justice's only sexual offense conviction was for "sexual battery," which is a broad characterization of offenses ranging from engaging in intercourse with an intoxicated individual to statutory rape. Attached below is the official record from the Franklin County Municipal Court public records search (click here) showing the dismissed charge. Also of note that Justice is not required to register based on his distinction as "(Pre-AWA) Sexual Oriented Offender," and is not found on the Ohio sexual offenders registry (click here). 
patrickjustice-rapeunder13-dismissed.pdf
File Size: 9 kb
File Type: pdf
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EDIT (August 15, 2020) - In light of new information, I must amend my last edit. The record attached above states that the charges were "Dismissed Direct Indictment." When we received these records as part of the 2017 background check, I mistook this for meaning the charges were dismissed entirely as I asserted above. At this time, I cannot comment on the details of the case but I am glad that Hatfield and I took swift action to remove him from our circle as we did. I also reaffirm that in the entire time I have been affiliated with Hatfield, he has shown nothing but the utmost integrity and honor. I maintain that neither he or I had any knowledge of Justice's criminal record prior to 2017. Going forward, this has become an active legal matter. Therefore, no further comments will be addressed regarding this situation. 
​
Please view "PSA: Patrick Justice (Part 2)" by clicking here for more information. ​
26 Comments
Angela
8/14/2020 05:10:47 am

Wow. I am so glad you removed him right away from your organization! I looked him up to see what he actually did but all it says is "sexual battery" which doesn't really tell you anything. Do you know what happened?

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Bret Gordon
8/14/2020 05:41:08 am

Honestly, the Ohio statute is vague so I don't really know what the actual crime was. Under 2907.03, "Sexual Battery" can be anything from sleeping with someone who's intoxicated to getting drunk at a party and a late-teenage girl lying to you about her age. There is nothing to suggest it was a violent crime, and nothing to suggest it was against a child, which is what partly influenced my decision not to put him on blast. We simply don't know the details.

Now, looking at his record, it also says he was "(Pre-AWA) Sexual Oriented Offender." This means that his crime was prior to the modern classification system with current requirements of registration, etc. But I will note that "sexual oriented offender" is the lowest tier of sexual offense.

Of course, I am not excusing or supporting his actions. It was clear that he could no longer be affiliated with us, and that is why we severed ties immediately.

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Angela
8/14/2020 05:55:48 am

Thank you for responding! Yeah I can understand especially if you don't know what he did.

Eric Laino
8/16/2020 04:54:18 pm

Grand Master Hatfield and Grand Master Bret Gordan, it's not your fault gentlemen, for the actions of this mut. You did everything you could as and for anyone to try and make you 2, part of the blame are just sick themselves! God bless you Master Gordan and Grand Master Hatfield.

Eric Laino
8/16/2020 04:55:48 pm

Grand Master Hatfield as and Master Gordan have my sincere support!

Richard Hackworth link
8/14/2020 06:33:08 am

I think that you took every reasonable and legal step by removing him as soon as you found out. Anything beyond that could be considered harrassment and leave you open to legal action. He served his time and its the court's job to monitor him. You have no legal right to stalk and harrass him beyond expelling him from the organization. You did the right thing.

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Adam hall
8/14/2020 07:26:00 am

I agree they did the right thing it sounds to me like once they found out about this then they handled this the right way sounds like they did the right thing

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Michael Pagano
8/16/2020 11:50:46 pm

Not to mention a violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act if they were to release an actual copy of his background check. That would just open them up to a lawsuit by Justice. Definitely handed the right way!!

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john
8/17/2020 06:17:32 am

why would they release any information on this man his record is public information not to mention this happen years ago this guy did his time in jail so why bring it up now they did the right thing by removing him so why is this even a issue now sounds like someone is trying to cause Hatfield and Gordon problems so who ever this person or people are it seems to me they are a real low life and have nothing better to do then harass these men To Master Gordon and Master Hatfield you did what was necessary and handled this situation perfectly thank you gentleman

Tod Hall
8/14/2020 07:22:29 am

I feel you handled the situation correctly and I feel that you took the professional approach. There is no reason to run someone through the mud. It sounds like this justice guy took the high road and stepped down i have to respect the man for that at least. I did try to look up his name and he isnt even on the sex offender website and his charges dont mention rape at all. It says sexual battery! And thats a pretty broad term from what i could see and its not very clear. Either way i think it was handled the right way.

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Jennifer
8/14/2020 07:43:51 am

Wow! As a parent of children in Martial Arts, I believe the correct decision was made. Thank you for taking the appropriate actions.

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lisa
8/14/2020 08:27:26 am

my son has been in marital arts most of his life from what I get out of this when they found out they took care of it right away and for this man Hatield it must have been a shock to find this out but yet he didn't let friendship compromise his principles he did what was right that is an honorable thing to do they both where professorial thank you gentleman for your honesty

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Karlyn Baxter
8/14/2020 07:46:45 am

I have to admit hearing and seeing things like this is what scars me. Both of my sons are in taiwondo they have been there for 2 months and to think that something like this could happen is terrifying. But in this case i think you guys handed this well i can only hope that if something like this god for bid would happen in the school we are at it would be addressed the same way. Now i know that most of you will not agree with this but me being a mother i have to be honest and say i dont think i would want to know why the instructor was no longer in the academy or in the group. I feel like i would ruin my kids experience and as long as they are safe and everything was handled properly then there is nothing to worry about.

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Andrew Stevens
8/14/2020 07:58:47 am

I agree you shouldnt have put his business out before. Unless you know like he legit raped a little kid the charges could be anything. Sexual battery is open as hell. Like for example my boy hooked up with a 17 yo at some party and now has to register for the rest of his life. Its ridiculous!!!!

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Armani N.
8/14/2020 08:35:02 am

As a student of Master Hatfield I would like to shed light on some thing's concerning Patrick. I don’t condone nor support any criminal actions he may or may not have committed. But what I can say is the Patrick I knew was a respectable man and a damn hard worker in the dojo and outside the dojo. In my youth I tended to be a bit troublesome. Struggling in school, not having a father figure in my life and basically on the road to becoming another statistic. Upon meeting Patrick when joining the technician family I have NEVER once felt uncomfortable around Mr. Justice. I was never “groomed” as one might say to be one of his “targets” like some are saying. That man came in that dojo one of the first ones in and one of the last ones out everyday when training. I’ve never seen him mishandle any child or adult In any gross or sexual way while in class and out of class. I did not only have the opportunity to train with him but he also helped me get a local job at the casino where I worked 3 or 4 months along his side. So I will say this again proudly and happily. The Patrick Justice I knew was a well respected and hard working man during his time training in the dojo. In the photo above I am the one pictured to the right of John Bailey. And to the right of me is my actual brother who has trained as well.

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Leon Major
8/14/2020 09:12:08 am

You did the right thing by addressing the situation and taking action immediately. I fuñly agree with the course of action taken by confronting him and giving him the option to resign on his own. He chose to leave, so there’s no need to put him on blast as long as he came clean when confronted.

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Jeremy Lewis
8/14/2020 09:12:26 am

I was a student of Sensei Hatfield for many years and only stopped because I had to move out of state for work. I know the type of man he is and know that there's no way he would've kept this a secret. There's no doubt in my mind that he handled this as soon as he found out. I never got the opportunity to meet Sensei Gordon but if Sensei Hatfield trusts him, that tells me all I need about him too. These guys did the right thing.

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Andrew Green
8/14/2020 09:18:33 am

This is crazy! I was a student of Master Justice when I was 15 until I was 17 at the rec center and he was always the most professional. I looked up to him so much as a student and still respect him. If he did anything like this I am sure it was a mistake. He's a good man and I still support him.

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Johnellie Cobb
8/14/2020 09:23:53 am

Hello my name is Johnellie Cobb and I have been a student of Sensei Steven Hatfield for 12 years. I am not sure who is making false accusations, but his character as a martial artist has been professional and loyal to all his students. I appreciate my Sensei he has built character in me and made me stronger as a martial artist and a person. I am the first black belt female in his class and he has not only became my teacher, but he also became my best friend. He loves his school and he cares for all his students, he has built everything for his dojo and I don't understand how someone can slander his name and call him fake. He is the most realist instructor that I know that pours his soul into his created martial arts and community. I hope this letter gives reason to give recognition to Sensei Hatfields accomplishments, selfless deeds, and structured martial science. He is a great teacher with a strong character. Regardless of the circle of deception of other people's words or behavior at the end of the day I will always have my instructors back, because of the dedication and loyality he has given me.

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Joan Riggio
8/14/2020 11:03:02 am

As a parent of martial students (now grown), this has always been a concern of mine. Situations like this are very difficult for a parent to hear. If we were part of this school/organization, I would have expected exactly what was done. In my opinion, the situation was handled and handled properly.

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Juan P
8/14/2020 10:36:34 pm

Damn thats crazy. I think you did the right thing by letting him resign and go your separate ways. You know if you blasted him after so many years people would talk shit about that too so dont worry about peoples opinions on your response. Glad hes not part of your group anymore though!

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Mike
8/15/2020 10:07:10 pm

You guys handled this appropriately for sure. As a professional organization, you don't need to embarrass people by posting information that is already public record just to gain notoriety or virtue signal.

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amy
8/17/2020 06:18:52 am

well put mike they did the right thing in deed

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Joseph Cushing
8/17/2020 08:23:31 pm

I read online that you promoted this guy to 9th Dan the same year he was asked to resign? What was the timeline of all that? Did you promote him after finding out about his record?!?!

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Bret Gordon
8/17/2020 08:33:46 pm

When we found out about his record, he had already been promoted and had been running the AJA since 2011. Within 30 days of becoming aware that he was a sex offender, he resigned, turned in his paperwork and I took control of the organization on October 3, 2017.

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Chris walker
8/18/2020 04:20:34 pm

I find it odd that these guys are harassing you two over something you had no control over on who's authority do they have to question you about anything they are judging the both of you for a crime you did not commit . they do not deserve any explanations don't waste your time with these guys you would think they would have better things to do than harass people but that just shows what kind of people they are

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