Author: Bret Gordon
Following our recent public service announcement (click here) regarding former president of the American Jidokwan Association, Patrick Justice, and the situation that has unfolded surrounding it, Mr. Justice has reached out to us and voluntarily provided the following statement to be posted on his behalf. Included here is the handwritten statement provided by Mr. Justice, and a transcript below:
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"To Whom It May Concern,
I Patrick Justice do hereby admit that this is written in my own hand. In the year of 2017 I was question by Steven Hatfield & Bret Gordon about my background and was honest about having a background. I was offered the opportunity to step down from my position as acting president and did so. I have never been an instructor for either parties named herein. I did not inform them of all the details of my case due to it being of a sensitive nature.
Furthermore I have not been in any other trouble with the courts of the same nature for the last 15 years now. I am a current employee of the state and have been so for the 4 years as an employee of the Department of Public Safety for the state of Ohio via homeland security as a Private Investigator/Security. I have not received any bad remarks on my service record or received any disciplinary action.
I apologize for not divulging all the details of the case to Steven and Bret. I also apologize for the negative actions that took place or any negative reflections that have come to the organization of martial arts as well as Steven Hatfield & Bret Gordon, furthermore I hope that the community will not judge Bret & Steven for the actions I had taken 15 years ago. I also ask that the community afford me the same respect the state of Ohio has given me as an employee of said state."
I Patrick Justice do hereby admit that this is written in my own hand. In the year of 2017 I was question by Steven Hatfield & Bret Gordon about my background and was honest about having a background. I was offered the opportunity to step down from my position as acting president and did so. I have never been an instructor for either parties named herein. I did not inform them of all the details of my case due to it being of a sensitive nature.
Furthermore I have not been in any other trouble with the courts of the same nature for the last 15 years now. I am a current employee of the state and have been so for the 4 years as an employee of the Department of Public Safety for the state of Ohio via homeland security as a Private Investigator/Security. I have not received any bad remarks on my service record or received any disciplinary action.
I apologize for not divulging all the details of the case to Steven and Bret. I also apologize for the negative actions that took place or any negative reflections that have come to the organization of martial arts as well as Steven Hatfield & Bret Gordon, furthermore I hope that the community will not judge Bret & Steven for the actions I had taken 15 years ago. I also ask that the community afford me the same respect the state of Ohio has given me as an employee of said state."
Due to the attention this matter has caused, there are a couple points I would like to address. Some have demanded we release a copy of the background check done on Mr. Justice, saying that failure to do so is part of some larger scandal to cover up his offense. Of course, I am sure they are also aware that publishing such information would be a violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act making it impossible for us to do so without opening us up for a lawsuit.
In my previous announcement regarding Justice, I made the statement that we chose not publicize the details surrounding the change of leadership for the American Jidokwan Association. However, it has also been suggested that as mandatory reporters, which martial arts instructors are (at least in Florida to the best of my knowledge), we had a duty to report him to the authorities. First off, Mr. Justice has never been to my school or any school that I have previously taught at in the state of Florida. More importantly, as you can see from his statement, in 2017 Mr. Justice was already a government employee, a position he would've needed to pass a background check to obtain. In addition, Florida mandated reporters are required to file a report under the following circumstances:
In my previous announcement regarding Justice, I made the statement that we chose not publicize the details surrounding the change of leadership for the American Jidokwan Association. However, it has also been suggested that as mandatory reporters, which martial arts instructors are (at least in Florida to the best of my knowledge), we had a duty to report him to the authorities. First off, Mr. Justice has never been to my school or any school that I have previously taught at in the state of Florida. More importantly, as you can see from his statement, in 2017 Mr. Justice was already a government employee, a position he would've needed to pass a background check to obtain. In addition, Florida mandated reporters are required to file a report under the following circumstances:
- When any person knows or has reasonable cause to suspect that a child is abused, abandoned, or neglected by a parent, legal custodian, caregiver, or other person responsible for the child’s welfare, or that a child is in need of supervision and care and has no parent, legal custodian, or responsible adult relative immediately known and available to provide supervision and care.
- When any person knows or has reasonable cause to suspect that a child is abused by an adult other than a parent, legal custodian, or other person responsible for the child’s welfare
- When any person knows or has reasonable cause to suspect that the child is a victim of childhood sexual abuse or the victim of a known or suspected juvenile sexual offender.
Mr. Justice's Government ID Learning that Mr. Justice has a prior conviction does not fall under the requirements of mandatory reporting under Florida State Statute 39.201 (click here), especially with the knowledge that he was a government employee.
When confronted about his background, Mr. Justice did inform us that due to the level of his offense (pre-AWA sexual oriented offender), his requirement to register ended on April 2017 and he is no longer listed on the Ohio sex offender registry. In fact, according to the Ohio Administrative Code 4501:7-1 (click here) and the Ohio Revised Code 4749 (click here), he would've needed to have a clean record with no felonies within the three years prior to application in order to be eligible to obtain his license. Therefore, we had no reason to believe Mr. Justice was out of compliance in any way, and his active and continued employment as well as his license renewals prove that he is not for the entire time we have been aware of his record.
As a professional organization committed to the martial virtues of honor, integrity and respect, the US Association of Martial Arts firmly stands against sexual abuse in all forms. We do not condone or support the actions of Mr. Justice that led to his conviction.
This will be the final statement issued by the US Association of Martial Arts, any of our affiliated organizations, myself personally, or my teacher Steven Hatfield regarding this incident. We thank Mr. Justice for coming forward and voluntarily offering this public statement. We also thank the community for the outpouring of support that we've received on this matter and how it was handled when it first came to our attention in 2017.
When confronted about his background, Mr. Justice did inform us that due to the level of his offense (pre-AWA sexual oriented offender), his requirement to register ended on April 2017 and he is no longer listed on the Ohio sex offender registry. In fact, according to the Ohio Administrative Code 4501:7-1 (click here) and the Ohio Revised Code 4749 (click here), he would've needed to have a clean record with no felonies within the three years prior to application in order to be eligible to obtain his license. Therefore, we had no reason to believe Mr. Justice was out of compliance in any way, and his active and continued employment as well as his license renewals prove that he is not for the entire time we have been aware of his record.
As a professional organization committed to the martial virtues of honor, integrity and respect, the US Association of Martial Arts firmly stands against sexual abuse in all forms. We do not condone or support the actions of Mr. Justice that led to his conviction.
This will be the final statement issued by the US Association of Martial Arts, any of our affiliated organizations, myself personally, or my teacher Steven Hatfield regarding this incident. We thank Mr. Justice for coming forward and voluntarily offering this public statement. We also thank the community for the outpouring of support that we've received on this matter and how it was handled when it first came to our attention in 2017.
EDIT (August 18, 2020) - As stated in the previous announcement, this has become an active legal matter. While we have received several questions about this situation, no further comments will be addressed on any platform. All future inquiries will be directed to our attorney. Thank you for your understanding.
EDIT (August 20, 2020) - In addition to the statement provided by Mr. Justice featured above, Mrs. Justice offered the following statement to be posted as well. It was given to us at the same time as the statement above, and we were unsure about releasing it at first due to the emotional nature with which it was written. However, I believe Mrs. Justice's voice should be heard in this matter as an innocent party that is being affected by this situation.
 | "To Whom It May Concern, I Janet Justice am writing this by my own hand & my own free will! I have been with Patrick Justice for 11 years and married to him for 6! He has had NO AFFILIATION with Bret Gordon's school AT ALL! He had stepped down from President! He has NOT taught nor is he teaching @ Steven Hatfield's school! If you knew him the way that myself & a lot of other people excluding the 2 named above know him then you would step back & question yourselves. He has come a long way and neither you or ANYONE else is gonna take that from him!!! He has jumped through every hoop to show that he isn't that type of person! He has kept his name clear & has busted his ass to get where he is today! For the record he isn't gonna jump through your bullshit!!!" |
