http://articles.philly.com/1998-06-09/news/25727370_1_karate-instructor-indecent-assault-karate-studio
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Partner In Karate Studio Found Guilty
By Mark Binker, INQUIRER CORRESPONDENT
Posted: June 09, 1998
The co-owner of a Bucks County karate studio was convicted last week of four misdemeanor charges, including indecent assault, stemming from two alleged incidents in May and June of last year with one of his teenage students.
Joseph Mastrando, 22, was found guilty in Philadelphia Municipal Court by Judge Lillian Ransom of indecent assault, corrupting the morals of a minor, furnishing alcohol to a minor, and endangering the welfare of a child.
He was sentenced to one year of probation.
The verdict has been appealed by Mastrando and his lawyer, Michael H. Applebaum, to the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. ``I'm confident the truth will come out and my client will be acquitted,'' Applebaum said.
According to Michael Leary, a Philadelphia assistant district attorney, Mastrando fondled the 15-year-old boy on two occasions at his Northeast Philadelphia residence on Parlin Street and in his car.
Mastrando is the co-owner of USA Karate Center, a business in Richboro that until recently also had a branch in Northeast Philadelphia.
Applebaum said the juvenile accusing Mastrando was angry that he was not considered for a position as a paid karate instructor.
Said Leary: ``The judge found that [the minor's] story was very credible.''
A date for the appeal has not yet been set.
(link not active, page not found on original server: archive of article shown here below)
Partner In Karate Studio Found Guilty
By Mark Binker, INQUIRER CORRESPONDENT
Posted: June 09, 1998
The co-owner of a Bucks County karate studio was convicted last week of four misdemeanor charges, including indecent assault, stemming from two alleged incidents in May and June of last year with one of his teenage students.
Joseph Mastrando, 22, was found guilty in Philadelphia Municipal Court by Judge Lillian Ransom of indecent assault, corrupting the morals of a minor, furnishing alcohol to a minor, and endangering the welfare of a child.
He was sentenced to one year of probation.
The verdict has been appealed by Mastrando and his lawyer, Michael H. Applebaum, to the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. ``I'm confident the truth will come out and my client will be acquitted,'' Applebaum said.
According to Michael Leary, a Philadelphia assistant district attorney, Mastrando fondled the 15-year-old boy on two occasions at his Northeast Philadelphia residence on Parlin Street and in his car.
Mastrando is the co-owner of USA Karate Center, a business in Richboro that until recently also had a branch in Northeast Philadelphia.
Applebaum said the juvenile accusing Mastrando was angry that he was not considered for a position as a paid karate instructor.
Said Leary: ``The judge found that [the minor's] story was very credible.''
A date for the appeal has not yet been set.