http://www.nogalesinternational.com/news/walters-gets-years-in-prison/article_14b7564c-5eb6-11e4-a54e-0388bf51244c.html
Walters gets 3.5 years in prison
Larry David Walters
Curt Prendergast
Larry David Walters
Larry David Walters appears at his sentencing hearing on Monday.
Posted: Tuesday, October 28, 2014 8:21 am | Updated: 8:27 am, Tue Oct 28, 2014.
By Curt Prendergast
Nogales International | 0 comments
A Rio Rico man accused of having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old student at his karate school was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison Monday.
Larry David Walters, 52, previously pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual conduct with a minor as part of a plea agreement with the County Attorney’s Office. At a Monday sentencing hearing, Superior Court Judge Anna Montoya-Paez sentenced Walters to the maximum prison term and maximum probation term – 10 years – allowed by the agreement.
“I think you knew exactly what you were doing when you got into this,” Montoya-Paez said, adding Walters used his position of authority to exploit a vulnerable girl.
The charges stemmed from a series of encounters between Walters and the student after her father enrolled her at Walters’ 5 Animal Kung Fu/Karate dojo in Nogales. Walters was arrested April 20, 2012 in the parking lot of the Super 8 motel across the street from his dojo after the father alerted police to evidence suggesting Walters was having a sexual relationship with the girl.
“At 15 years old, this girl should be looking at going to Denny’s and having milkshakes with her girlfriends and not be worried that her instructor is going to want to have sex with her,” Montoya-Paez said.
Walters chose a vulnerable girl to exploit, but “if it would not have been her, it would have been somebody else,” she said.
Deputy County Attorney Kimberly Hunley accused Walters of making an emotional connection with the victim “in a calculated way” and “grooming her for sexual exploitation.” Hunley then graphically described the sexual encounters between Walters and the victim and read romantic text messages between the two.
Defense attorney George Damon said the victim did not sustain any serious physical or emotional injury as a result of the incidents during the weeks she was in contact with Walters.
The results of the psychosexual evaluation were “very favorable” to Walters, Damon said, noting the doctor who conducted the evaluation did not diagnose Walters with a mental disorder.
When asked to address the court, Walters said, “It was all my fault.”
“I lost touch with reality for a while. It was something that I never thought that I would do. I never thought I would end up doing these things,” he said.
As part of the plea agreement, Walters must register as a sex offender and enroll in a sex offender treatment program.
“I was happy to go to the psychosexual evaluation because I really wanted to find out more about myself,” he said.
“I never had anybody helping me. I didn’t know what was going on. I’m not claiming ignorance; I knew the law and I knew I was at risk,” Walters said, adding the relationship was “innocent as it began, and it just escalated.”
“I respect any decision you make, Your Honor. I’m here for sentencing,” he said.
The initial charges against Walters accused him of beginning the sexual relationship with the victim before her 15th birthday, which is a prison-only Class 2 felony that makes a suspect ineligible for bond. That allegation was contradicted by the evidence, however, and eventually dropped by the County Attorney’s Office.
On Monday, the judge gave Walters credit for 347 days he served in the county jail before he was released in April 2013.
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Martial arts instructor, 50, charged with sex with 15-year-old girl
Posted in News on Tuesday, October 28, 2014 8:21 am. Updated: 8:27 am.
Walters gets 3.5 years in prison
Larry David Walters
Curt Prendergast
Larry David Walters
Larry David Walters appears at his sentencing hearing on Monday.
Posted: Tuesday, October 28, 2014 8:21 am | Updated: 8:27 am, Tue Oct 28, 2014.
By Curt Prendergast
Nogales International | 0 comments
A Rio Rico man accused of having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old student at his karate school was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison Monday.
Larry David Walters, 52, previously pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual conduct with a minor as part of a plea agreement with the County Attorney’s Office. At a Monday sentencing hearing, Superior Court Judge Anna Montoya-Paez sentenced Walters to the maximum prison term and maximum probation term – 10 years – allowed by the agreement.
“I think you knew exactly what you were doing when you got into this,” Montoya-Paez said, adding Walters used his position of authority to exploit a vulnerable girl.
The charges stemmed from a series of encounters between Walters and the student after her father enrolled her at Walters’ 5 Animal Kung Fu/Karate dojo in Nogales. Walters was arrested April 20, 2012 in the parking lot of the Super 8 motel across the street from his dojo after the father alerted police to evidence suggesting Walters was having a sexual relationship with the girl.
“At 15 years old, this girl should be looking at going to Denny’s and having milkshakes with her girlfriends and not be worried that her instructor is going to want to have sex with her,” Montoya-Paez said.
Walters chose a vulnerable girl to exploit, but “if it would not have been her, it would have been somebody else,” she said.
Deputy County Attorney Kimberly Hunley accused Walters of making an emotional connection with the victim “in a calculated way” and “grooming her for sexual exploitation.” Hunley then graphically described the sexual encounters between Walters and the victim and read romantic text messages between the two.
Defense attorney George Damon said the victim did not sustain any serious physical or emotional injury as a result of the incidents during the weeks she was in contact with Walters.
The results of the psychosexual evaluation were “very favorable” to Walters, Damon said, noting the doctor who conducted the evaluation did not diagnose Walters with a mental disorder.
When asked to address the court, Walters said, “It was all my fault.”
“I lost touch with reality for a while. It was something that I never thought that I would do. I never thought I would end up doing these things,” he said.
As part of the plea agreement, Walters must register as a sex offender and enroll in a sex offender treatment program.
“I was happy to go to the psychosexual evaluation because I really wanted to find out more about myself,” he said.
“I never had anybody helping me. I didn’t know what was going on. I’m not claiming ignorance; I knew the law and I knew I was at risk,” Walters said, adding the relationship was “innocent as it began, and it just escalated.”
“I respect any decision you make, Your Honor. I’m here for sentencing,” he said.
The initial charges against Walters accused him of beginning the sexual relationship with the victim before her 15th birthday, which is a prison-only Class 2 felony that makes a suspect ineligible for bond. That allegation was contradicted by the evidence, however, and eventually dropped by the County Attorney’s Office.
On Monday, the judge gave Walters credit for 347 days he served in the county jail before he was released in April 2013.
More Coverage
Walters pleads guilty to sex with minor
14 new sex-with-minor charges filed vs. martial arts teacher
Sex-with-minor charges dropped against martial arts instructor - for now
Police say martial arts instructor confessed to sex with underage girl
Martial arts instructor, 50, charged with sex with 15-year-old girl
Posted in News on Tuesday, October 28, 2014 8:21 am. Updated: 8:27 am.
http://www.nogalesinternational.com/news/walters-pleads-guilty-to-sex-with-minor/article_4d76e34e-3512-11e4-a71b-0019bb2963f4.html
Walters pleads guilty to sex with minor
Posted: Friday, September 5, 2014 8:35 am | Updated: 11:04 am, Fri Sep 5, 2014.
Nogales International | 0 comments
Larry David Walters, the local martial arts instructor accused of having sex with one of his underage students in 2012, has accepted a plea deal that includes prison time and sex offender registration.
Walters, 52, of Rio Rico, had been charged with 14 Class 6 felony counts stemming from four alleged sexual encounters with a 15-year-old girl between March 25 and April 19, 2012. During a hearing on Aug. 25, he agreed to plead guilty to three counts of sexual conduct with a minor under 18.
According to the agreement, Judge Anna Montoya-Paez of Santa Cruz County Superior Court can sentence Walters to up to 1.75 years in prison on two of the counts, with the terms to run consecutive to each other. He will be given credit for the nearly one year he spent in jail after his arrest on April 20, 2012, and can be released after serving 85% of his sentence.
In addition, Montoya-Paez can sentence him to between three and 10 years of probation for the third count, with the probation to be served upon his release from prison. Walters must also register as a sex offender as part of the deal.
Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 27.
According to testimony at a preliminary hearing in June 2012, a man called the Sheriff’s Office on April 19, 2012 to accuse Walters of having a relationship with his 15-year-old daughter, whom he had enrolled a month earlier at Walters’ 5 Animal Kung Fu/Karate dojo on Mariposa Road in Nogales.
Early the next morning, police tracked Walters to the parking lot of the Super 8 motel, across Mariposa Road from his dojo, where he was reportedly sitting in his locked SUV, a handgun on his lap. He was initially charged with having had sex with the girl when she was 14, but the County Attorney’s Office dropped that allegation after Walters insisted on a trial.
More Coverage
14 new sex-with-minor charges filed vs. martial arts teacher
Sex-with-minor charges dropped against martial arts instructor - for now
Police say martial arts instructor confessed to sex with underage girl
Walters pleads guilty to sex with minor
Posted: Friday, September 5, 2014 8:35 am | Updated: 11:04 am, Fri Sep 5, 2014.
Nogales International | 0 comments
Larry David Walters, the local martial arts instructor accused of having sex with one of his underage students in 2012, has accepted a plea deal that includes prison time and sex offender registration.
Walters, 52, of Rio Rico, had been charged with 14 Class 6 felony counts stemming from four alleged sexual encounters with a 15-year-old girl between March 25 and April 19, 2012. During a hearing on Aug. 25, he agreed to plead guilty to three counts of sexual conduct with a minor under 18.
According to the agreement, Judge Anna Montoya-Paez of Santa Cruz County Superior Court can sentence Walters to up to 1.75 years in prison on two of the counts, with the terms to run consecutive to each other. He will be given credit for the nearly one year he spent in jail after his arrest on April 20, 2012, and can be released after serving 85% of his sentence.
In addition, Montoya-Paez can sentence him to between three and 10 years of probation for the third count, with the probation to be served upon his release from prison. Walters must also register as a sex offender as part of the deal.
Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 27.
According to testimony at a preliminary hearing in June 2012, a man called the Sheriff’s Office on April 19, 2012 to accuse Walters of having a relationship with his 15-year-old daughter, whom he had enrolled a month earlier at Walters’ 5 Animal Kung Fu/Karate dojo on Mariposa Road in Nogales.
Early the next morning, police tracked Walters to the parking lot of the Super 8 motel, across Mariposa Road from his dojo, where he was reportedly sitting in his locked SUV, a handgun on his lap. He was initially charged with having had sex with the girl when she was 14, but the County Attorney’s Office dropped that allegation after Walters insisted on a trial.
More Coverage
14 new sex-with-minor charges filed vs. martial arts teacher
Sex-with-minor charges dropped against martial arts instructor - for now
Police say martial arts instructor confessed to sex with underage girl