Daniel George, a former employee of Championship Martial Arts, has been arrested by the Griffin Police Department and charged with child molestation and enticing a child for indecent purposes. Booking photo courtesy of the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office
SHEILA A. MATHEWS :::
A local karate instructor has been arrested by the Griffin Police Department and charged with child molestation and enticing a child for indecent purposes.
According to Griffin Police Department Chief Mike Yates, Daniel George has been arrested and charged in connection to a complaint filed by a parent.
Filed by former GPD Officer Matthew Boynton, the report states that the sex abuse allegation was submitted directly to the Police Department.
The report states that during a conversation that same date about the importance of honesty, a seven-year-old girl told her mother “that she guessed it was okay to tell (mother) that Mr. Dan (her karate instructor) had touched her private area.”
The report states the mother asked her daughter how she was touched and the child said, “Mr. Dan put his hand on her stomach and then went inside her pants.”
The mother reported her daughter attended summer camp at Championship Martial Arts, and described Daniel George as the lead instructor.
The mother alleged her daughter said she “was told by Mr. Dan that she was not allowed to tell her mom or anything about him touching her and he made her promise. (The girl) also said that when Mr. Dan asked her to promise that she had her fingers crossed behind her back, so she felt it was okay to tell her mom what she said.”
The mother also alleged her daughter reported that while other children were eating a snack at the karate studio, George would take her in the girls’ locker room where he “tries to fix her pants because they are too tight,” and that she has a “secret room in the studio where she goes and plays on a computer that only she has access to with Mr. Dan’s permission.”
The GRIP contacted the owner of Championship Martial Arts, who said he is cooperating fully with the investigation, and confirmed that Daniel George is no longer an employee of the karate studio.
Yates said the investigation is ongoing, but was unable to confirm if any other suspected victims have been identified.
