http://www.yourstephenvilletx.com/article/20160727/NEWS/160729607
Former Jiu Jitsu trainer guilty of sex assault on student
Samuel Lewis was escorted inside the courtroom Wednesday during the one-day trial that ended in a guilty verdict.AUTUMN OWENS/E-TSamuel Lewis was escorted inside the courtroom Wednesday during the one-day trial that ended in a guilty verdict.
By AUTUMN OWENS
[email protected]
Twitter @aowensETnews
Posted Jul. 27, 2016 at 3:24 PM
Updated Jul 27, 2016 at 3:27 PM
It took less than an hour for an Erath County jury to find the former owner of BQuick Brazilian Jiu Jitsu guilty of sexually assaulting a student who was 14 years old at the time.
Jurors were still assessing punishment for Samuel David Lewis, 25, Wednesday afternoon.
He was arrested in January 2014 and charged with sexual assault of a child, a second degree felony.
The victim, now 17, told jurors Wednesday that she began training with Lewis in the summer of 2013. She said Lewis told her he was unhappy in his marriage.
"I being the emotional teenager, came to feel bad for him," she said. "I felt bad and was sympathetic towards him."
She said the two communicated through text messages and Facebook, and that the relationship turned sexual on Christmas Eve 2013 when they had sex in the bathroom inside the gym.
The victim's mother learned about the relationship after finding Facebook exchanges and after confronting her about their relationship, went to police.
The victim testified that Lewis knew she was a high school freshman at the time.
Testimony concluded with Lewis’ ex-wife taking the stand.
His ex-wife said she became suspicious of the relationship between Lewis and the victim after the amount of time they started spending together and when he began text messaging her late at night.
“The main incident that got me upset was Christmas Eve,” she said.
Lewis told her he needed to train the victim and her brother because of an upcoming competition. She later found out the victim’s brother was not with them.
At the beginning of January, she went to the victim’s mother with her concern.
“I told her I thought something was going on that was further than a student/coach relationship,” she testified.
That’s when the victim’s mother went to police.
Lewis attempted suicide shortly after his arrest and while he was in recovery, his ex-wife said he acknowledged the incident one time.
“I wanted to know why. Was it because she was pretty? Was it because she was young? Was it because she did Jiu Jitsu? Because I thought I was a pretty good wife,” she said. “He said it was because of Jiu Jitsu and that was the only time he mentioned it at all.”
District Attorney Alan Nash and Andrew Ottoway, Lewis' defense attorney, then went into closing arguments.
“When men don’t uphold those boundaries with young ladies, it’s up to us to enforce those boundaries,” Nash said. “One of the last things (the victim) talks about (in a text message) is, ‘I just got grounded, I got my phone taken away.’ Is that not a giant neon warning sign to a 23-year-old?”
Former Jiu Jitsu trainer guilty of sex assault on student
Samuel Lewis was escorted inside the courtroom Wednesday during the one-day trial that ended in a guilty verdict.AUTUMN OWENS/E-TSamuel Lewis was escorted inside the courtroom Wednesday during the one-day trial that ended in a guilty verdict.
By AUTUMN OWENS
[email protected]
Twitter @aowensETnews
Posted Jul. 27, 2016 at 3:24 PM
Updated Jul 27, 2016 at 3:27 PM
It took less than an hour for an Erath County jury to find the former owner of BQuick Brazilian Jiu Jitsu guilty of sexually assaulting a student who was 14 years old at the time.
Jurors were still assessing punishment for Samuel David Lewis, 25, Wednesday afternoon.
He was arrested in January 2014 and charged with sexual assault of a child, a second degree felony.
The victim, now 17, told jurors Wednesday that she began training with Lewis in the summer of 2013. She said Lewis told her he was unhappy in his marriage.
"I being the emotional teenager, came to feel bad for him," she said. "I felt bad and was sympathetic towards him."
She said the two communicated through text messages and Facebook, and that the relationship turned sexual on Christmas Eve 2013 when they had sex in the bathroom inside the gym.
The victim's mother learned about the relationship after finding Facebook exchanges and after confronting her about their relationship, went to police.
The victim testified that Lewis knew she was a high school freshman at the time.
Testimony concluded with Lewis’ ex-wife taking the stand.
His ex-wife said she became suspicious of the relationship between Lewis and the victim after the amount of time they started spending together and when he began text messaging her late at night.
“The main incident that got me upset was Christmas Eve,” she said.
Lewis told her he needed to train the victim and her brother because of an upcoming competition. She later found out the victim’s brother was not with them.
At the beginning of January, she went to the victim’s mother with her concern.
“I told her I thought something was going on that was further than a student/coach relationship,” she testified.
That’s when the victim’s mother went to police.
Lewis attempted suicide shortly after his arrest and while he was in recovery, his ex-wife said he acknowledged the incident one time.
“I wanted to know why. Was it because she was pretty? Was it because she was young? Was it because she did Jiu Jitsu? Because I thought I was a pretty good wife,” she said. “He said it was because of Jiu Jitsu and that was the only time he mentioned it at all.”
District Attorney Alan Nash and Andrew Ottoway, Lewis' defense attorney, then went into closing arguments.
“When men don’t uphold those boundaries with young ladies, it’s up to us to enforce those boundaries,” Nash said. “One of the last things (the victim) talks about (in a text message) is, ‘I just got grounded, I got my phone taken away.’ Is that not a giant neon warning sign to a 23-year-old?”
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1924412-brazilian-jiu-jitsu-club-owner-charged-with-sexual-assault-in-texas
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Club Owner Charged with Sexual Assault in Texas
By
Levi Nile , Featured Columnist
Jan 15, 2014
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Club Owner Charged with Sexual Assault in Texas
Erath County Jail, Stephenville, TX
The owner of BQuick Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Samuel David Lewis, was arrested in Stephenville, Texas on Monday under charges of sexual assault of a child, according to Sara Vanden Berge of the Stephenville Empire-Tribune.
According to Vanden Berge, Lewis, 23, reportedly formed a romantic relationship with one of his female students, which resulted in sex on two different occasions: once on Christmas Eve and the other on New Years Eve. The minor in question (who was issued the pseudonym Jane KLF) said both occurrences happened in the bathroom of the club.
The minor in question is 14 years old.
Jane KLF began taking Jiu-Jitsu classes from Lewis in May or June of 2013. She stated the she and Lewis began spending time together outside of class and feelings grew from there.
Lewis is now in custody under a $25,000 bond at Erath County Jail.
The school Lewis owned was an affiliate of Brandon Quick Jiu-Jitsu, according to KJ Gould of BloodyElbow.com. Quick himself took to his Facebook page in response to the situation, per Gould: "As a family man and a father of 2 daughters I am absolutely sickened by the news today. Unfortunately, many lives are negatively affected by the actions of my former affiliate in Stephenville."
Quick went on to say that he conducted a background check on Lewis, as he does with anyone affiliated with his organization. The background check concluded that Lewis was honorably discharged from the USMC and had a clean track record and good references.
Quick also said that Lewis has been permanently removed from the BQJJ network and would never be allowed to set foot on their mats again.
The Facebook pages of both Lewis and the BQuick BJJ Stephenville academy appear to have been deleted or suspended for the time being as the investigation proceeds.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Club Owner Charged with Sexual Assault in Texas
By
Levi Nile , Featured Columnist
Jan 15, 2014
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Club Owner Charged with Sexual Assault in Texas
Erath County Jail, Stephenville, TX
The owner of BQuick Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Samuel David Lewis, was arrested in Stephenville, Texas on Monday under charges of sexual assault of a child, according to Sara Vanden Berge of the Stephenville Empire-Tribune.
According to Vanden Berge, Lewis, 23, reportedly formed a romantic relationship with one of his female students, which resulted in sex on two different occasions: once on Christmas Eve and the other on New Years Eve. The minor in question (who was issued the pseudonym Jane KLF) said both occurrences happened in the bathroom of the club.
The minor in question is 14 years old.
Jane KLF began taking Jiu-Jitsu classes from Lewis in May or June of 2013. She stated the she and Lewis began spending time together outside of class and feelings grew from there.
Lewis is now in custody under a $25,000 bond at Erath County Jail.
The school Lewis owned was an affiliate of Brandon Quick Jiu-Jitsu, according to KJ Gould of BloodyElbow.com. Quick himself took to his Facebook page in response to the situation, per Gould: "As a family man and a father of 2 daughters I am absolutely sickened by the news today. Unfortunately, many lives are negatively affected by the actions of my former affiliate in Stephenville."
Quick went on to say that he conducted a background check on Lewis, as he does with anyone affiliated with his organization. The background check concluded that Lewis was honorably discharged from the USMC and had a clean track record and good references.
Quick also said that Lewis has been permanently removed from the BQJJ network and would never be allowed to set foot on their mats again.
The Facebook pages of both Lewis and the BQuick BJJ Stephenville academy appear to have been deleted or suspended for the time being as the investigation proceeds.