https://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2019/11/18/kasea-cirincione-taekwondo-instructor-one-year-jail-sex-minor/
Former Taekwondo Instructor Sentenced To One Year In Jail For Sex With Minor
November 18, 2019 at 11:59 pm
Filed Under:citrus heights, Kasea Cirincione, Sexual Misconduct, taekwondo
CITRUS HEIGHTS (CBS13) — Kasea Cirincione, a former Citrus Heights Taekwondo instructor, was sentenced to a year in jail last Friday for having sex with a minor. Cirincione, 22, was also sentenced to five years of probation last Friday. Cirincione was charged with having unlawful sexual intercourse, rape, and sexual contact with a minor.
According to the Sacramento Superior Court, Cirincione pleaded no contest to the felony charges surrounding her relationship with a 14-year-old boy who was a former student at the studio owned by her parents, Family Tae Kwon Do Plus.
The owners say she stopped working at the studio last December when reports of the sexual contact came out. On May 10, Cirincione turned herself in to authorities.
READ MORE: Taekwondo Instructor Under Investigation, Accused Of Having Sex With 14-Year-Old Student
Former Taekwondo Instructor Sentenced To One Year In Jail For Sex With Minor
November 18, 2019 at 11:59 pm
Filed Under:citrus heights, Kasea Cirincione, Sexual Misconduct, taekwondo
CITRUS HEIGHTS (CBS13) — Kasea Cirincione, a former Citrus Heights Taekwondo instructor, was sentenced to a year in jail last Friday for having sex with a minor. Cirincione, 22, was also sentenced to five years of probation last Friday. Cirincione was charged with having unlawful sexual intercourse, rape, and sexual contact with a minor.
According to the Sacramento Superior Court, Cirincione pleaded no contest to the felony charges surrounding her relationship with a 14-year-old boy who was a former student at the studio owned by her parents, Family Tae Kwon Do Plus.
The owners say she stopped working at the studio last December when reports of the sexual contact came out. On May 10, Cirincione turned herself in to authorities.
READ MORE: Taekwondo Instructor Under Investigation, Accused Of Having Sex With 14-Year-Old Student
https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article233024262.html
Citrus Heights taekwondo studio owner speaks out as instructor faces teen sex charges
By Michael McGough
July 25, 2019 05:30 AM, Updated July 25, 2019 07:19 AM
Kasea Cirincione, 22.
Kasea Cirincione, 22. Citrus Heights Police Department
A former instructor at a family-owned Citrus Heights taekwondo studio arrested earlier this year faces more than a dozen charges in Sacramento Superior Court related to having sex with a minor, allegedly a former student.
As the case proceeds in court, a bitter dispute has emerged between a former patron and the martial arts studio’s owner – the defendant’s mother, who claims that a social media “blitz” initiated by the uninvolved customer has incited a “riot mentality.”
Kasea Cirincione, 22, stands accused of multiple counts of sex with a minor, forcible penetration and oral copulation involving a minor, court records show. She has yet to enter a plea and is due back in court for a conference July 31.
Details on the alleged sex crimes remain limited due to the involvement of a minor, allegedly a then-14-year-old boy who was a former student of Cirincione at Family Taekwondo Plus. The taekwondo school is owned and operated by the 22-year-old’s parents, Kateena and Dominic Cirincione.
Charges were filed against Kasea Cirincione in early May following an investigation by Citrus Heights police. Kasea has been released from Sacramento County jail on bail, booking logs showed.
In a recent phone interview and in emails to The Bee, Kateena says she doesn’t know anything about her daughter’s criminal case, but contends that no crime is alleged to have happened at her business, which she says is under tight video surveillance.
But with the outcome still pending in criminal court, Kateena Cirincione on June 24 filed for a civil harassment restraining order against Michael Allen, a Citrus Heights resident. In the court filing, she wrote that Allen continued to “attack online with a mix of fact & fiction,” penning Facebook posts and direct messages she says amounted to “slandering (her) family business.”
“Don’t go to family taekwondo plus on sunrise & antelope,” Allen wrote June 21 in a public Facebook post, a screenshot of which is attached in the court filing. “Daughter that was an instructor is an alleged pedophile. 23yr old female taekwondo instructor had sex with a 13yr old boy.Please share. Parents won’t tell truth to parents about the situation.”
Allen, a former customer at the school, said in a recent interview with The Bee he stopped taking his 7-year-old son to Family Taekwondo Plus in 2017 for unrelated reasons, but has taken to social media to shed light on the recent allegations, which he says should be brought to parents’ attention.
The restraining order filing accuses Allen of “fabricating ages and court dates.” Allen wrote that Kasea is 23. The petition – which seeks protection for Kasea, Kateena and Dominic Cirincione, as well as Kateena’s grandmother – lists Kasea’s age as 22.
Kateena alleged Allen attempted to promote demonstrations against her business, telling The Bee that he’s “inciting a riot mentality at this point.” In a followup email to The Bee, Kateena doubled down on the riot claim: “Mr. Allen has attempted to have people picketed or business (sic). Attempting to cause a riot,” she wrote, in part.
Allen disputes this, saying he simply wrote a social media comment agreeing with another user who said a protest demonstration, not a riot, was a good idea. No such demonstration has happened yet, both parties said.
Allen’s attorney says his posts and messages are protected under the First Amendment.
“My client, Michael Allen, a concerned citizen, exercised his right to free speech and made posts concerning the allegations on Facebook to warn the community,” Katrina Saleen wrote in an email to The Bee.
The temporary restraining order request was denied in Sacramento County Superior Court, with the claims ruled insufficient to grant the order, but a permanent restraining order hearing remains scheduled for Aug. 2.
Allen says Family Taekwondo Plus has a responsibility to be transparent with the public regarding the recent allegations, especially because children are involved.
“I get your defense as a mother, but you and your husband are being dishonest to the community and parents,” Allen wrote to Kateena in a private message, according to a screenshot of the conversation he shared with The Bee. “Should be ashamed. Truth will come out. Sorry your (sic) going through this, but honesty is the key.”
She didn’t respond to the message, he said.
“He started saying we’re hiding information when we’re directly informed not to make any comment,” Kateena said. “Mostly because we don’t know anything.”
Kateena says she’s been directed by legal counsel not to comment on Kasea’s case, and that she and husband Dominic don’t know anything about their daughter’s case, “as she is an adult.” Kasea has not worked at Family Taekwondo Plus since last December, Kateena said.
But in two separate copies of the same email shared by Allen with The Bee, allegedly sent by Family Taekwondo Plus to its customers on June 24, Kateena and Dominic appear to say they believe Kasea will be “exonerated.” The email advised that a local TV news station was about to broadcast a story on the matter, which both CBS 13 and FOX 40 did the following day.
“KaSea has had an allegation against her, by a former student. She states that it is a false allegation and we believe the court system will exonerate her,” the email reads. “Unfortunately the media has a history of sensationalizing this type of accusation. This accusation was not alleged to happen in our facility and goes against all of our core values.”
The email is signed “Professor and Master Cirincione.” The former is Kateena and the latter is Dominic.
Allen and others on social media also accused the Cirinciones of running an illegal or unlicensed daycare. The business offers an all-day camp during the summer and an after-school camp during the school year, but its website says this service is not a daycare.
The state Department of Social Services’ community care licensing division performed an unannounced inspection to Family Taekwondo Plus this Monday in response to a complaint received June 24, documents shared with The Bee show.
Licensing program analysts who toured the facility and met with Kateena “confirmed that Family Taekwondo Plus is providing unlicensed care,” the report says.
“LPAs advised Mrs. Cirincione that the facility is in violation of the Health & Safety Code. If unlicensed care does not cease, civil penalties in the amount of $200/day will be assessed,” the investigation report continued.
Kateena plans to appeal the findings, saying she believes her business is exempt from licensing requirements, as noted in the Social Services report and confirmed by Kateena in emails to The Bee. She cites Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations, which includes an exemption that allows private schools to operate after-school child care without a license, provided the instructors are properly qualified. Kateena says Family Taekwondo Plus is a private school.
No statements acknowledging the allegations involving Kasea have been posted to the studio’s website or public social media pages as of Wednesday. But on July 4, the studio posted a letter from the United World Taekwondo Association saying Family Taekwondo Plus remains in “good standing” with the association.
“This letter was made necessary due to misinformation being distributed regarding the status of their school,” the letter says.
The United World Taekwondo Association is headquartered in Roseville and includes dozens of taekwondo schools nationwide, 24 of them in California, according to its website.
Some of Cirincione’s accusations in the court filing were false or misrepresented facts, Allen alleges. Kateena’s court filing said in June 2017, she asked Allen to leave the studio after he “verbally assaulted” Dominic and Kasea during a dispute over Allen’s son’s attire.
Allen tells a different story, claiming Kasea “bullied” his 7-year-old son, essentially mocking him in front of others for forgetting his proper shoes, which lead to an argument. Allen says he stopped taking his son there a few months later for unrelated reasons.
Both Kateena and Allen acknowledged that the latter’s posts started on June 16. As for her reason for filing for the restraining order, Kateena wrote: “Affecting business causing undue financial distress.” Elsewhere in the document, Kateena claims two students quit on June 17, a day after “(Allen’s) direct message blitz.”
Allen’s social media posts drew mixed response from other Facebook users. At least two wrote in comments that he was “out of line” for posting information about a criminal case that has not been tried in court. Others told him they appreciated that he’d brought it to parents’ attention.
Profile Image of Michael McGough
Michael McGough
916-326-5508
Michael McGough anchors The Sacramento Bee’s breaking news reporting team, covering public safety and other local stories. A Sacramento native and lifelong capital resident, he interned at The Bee while attending Sacramento State, where he earned a degree in journalism.
Citrus Heights taekwondo studio owner speaks out as instructor faces teen sex charges
By Michael McGough
July 25, 2019 05:30 AM, Updated July 25, 2019 07:19 AM
Kasea Cirincione, 22.
Kasea Cirincione, 22. Citrus Heights Police Department
A former instructor at a family-owned Citrus Heights taekwondo studio arrested earlier this year faces more than a dozen charges in Sacramento Superior Court related to having sex with a minor, allegedly a former student.
As the case proceeds in court, a bitter dispute has emerged between a former patron and the martial arts studio’s owner – the defendant’s mother, who claims that a social media “blitz” initiated by the uninvolved customer has incited a “riot mentality.”
Kasea Cirincione, 22, stands accused of multiple counts of sex with a minor, forcible penetration and oral copulation involving a minor, court records show. She has yet to enter a plea and is due back in court for a conference July 31.
Details on the alleged sex crimes remain limited due to the involvement of a minor, allegedly a then-14-year-old boy who was a former student of Cirincione at Family Taekwondo Plus. The taekwondo school is owned and operated by the 22-year-old’s parents, Kateena and Dominic Cirincione.
Charges were filed against Kasea Cirincione in early May following an investigation by Citrus Heights police. Kasea has been released from Sacramento County jail on bail, booking logs showed.
In a recent phone interview and in emails to The Bee, Kateena says she doesn’t know anything about her daughter’s criminal case, but contends that no crime is alleged to have happened at her business, which she says is under tight video surveillance.
But with the outcome still pending in criminal court, Kateena Cirincione on June 24 filed for a civil harassment restraining order against Michael Allen, a Citrus Heights resident. In the court filing, she wrote that Allen continued to “attack online with a mix of fact & fiction,” penning Facebook posts and direct messages she says amounted to “slandering (her) family business.”
“Don’t go to family taekwondo plus on sunrise & antelope,” Allen wrote June 21 in a public Facebook post, a screenshot of which is attached in the court filing. “Daughter that was an instructor is an alleged pedophile. 23yr old female taekwondo instructor had sex with a 13yr old boy.Please share. Parents won’t tell truth to parents about the situation.”
Allen, a former customer at the school, said in a recent interview with The Bee he stopped taking his 7-year-old son to Family Taekwondo Plus in 2017 for unrelated reasons, but has taken to social media to shed light on the recent allegations, which he says should be brought to parents’ attention.
The restraining order filing accuses Allen of “fabricating ages and court dates.” Allen wrote that Kasea is 23. The petition – which seeks protection for Kasea, Kateena and Dominic Cirincione, as well as Kateena’s grandmother – lists Kasea’s age as 22.
Kateena alleged Allen attempted to promote demonstrations against her business, telling The Bee that he’s “inciting a riot mentality at this point.” In a followup email to The Bee, Kateena doubled down on the riot claim: “Mr. Allen has attempted to have people picketed or business (sic). Attempting to cause a riot,” she wrote, in part.
Allen disputes this, saying he simply wrote a social media comment agreeing with another user who said a protest demonstration, not a riot, was a good idea. No such demonstration has happened yet, both parties said.
Allen’s attorney says his posts and messages are protected under the First Amendment.
“My client, Michael Allen, a concerned citizen, exercised his right to free speech and made posts concerning the allegations on Facebook to warn the community,” Katrina Saleen wrote in an email to The Bee.
The temporary restraining order request was denied in Sacramento County Superior Court, with the claims ruled insufficient to grant the order, but a permanent restraining order hearing remains scheduled for Aug. 2.
Allen says Family Taekwondo Plus has a responsibility to be transparent with the public regarding the recent allegations, especially because children are involved.
“I get your defense as a mother, but you and your husband are being dishonest to the community and parents,” Allen wrote to Kateena in a private message, according to a screenshot of the conversation he shared with The Bee. “Should be ashamed. Truth will come out. Sorry your (sic) going through this, but honesty is the key.”
She didn’t respond to the message, he said.
“He started saying we’re hiding information when we’re directly informed not to make any comment,” Kateena said. “Mostly because we don’t know anything.”
Kateena says she’s been directed by legal counsel not to comment on Kasea’s case, and that she and husband Dominic don’t know anything about their daughter’s case, “as she is an adult.” Kasea has not worked at Family Taekwondo Plus since last December, Kateena said.
But in two separate copies of the same email shared by Allen with The Bee, allegedly sent by Family Taekwondo Plus to its customers on June 24, Kateena and Dominic appear to say they believe Kasea will be “exonerated.” The email advised that a local TV news station was about to broadcast a story on the matter, which both CBS 13 and FOX 40 did the following day.
“KaSea has had an allegation against her, by a former student. She states that it is a false allegation and we believe the court system will exonerate her,” the email reads. “Unfortunately the media has a history of sensationalizing this type of accusation. This accusation was not alleged to happen in our facility and goes against all of our core values.”
The email is signed “Professor and Master Cirincione.” The former is Kateena and the latter is Dominic.
Allen and others on social media also accused the Cirinciones of running an illegal or unlicensed daycare. The business offers an all-day camp during the summer and an after-school camp during the school year, but its website says this service is not a daycare.
The state Department of Social Services’ community care licensing division performed an unannounced inspection to Family Taekwondo Plus this Monday in response to a complaint received June 24, documents shared with The Bee show.
Licensing program analysts who toured the facility and met with Kateena “confirmed that Family Taekwondo Plus is providing unlicensed care,” the report says.
“LPAs advised Mrs. Cirincione that the facility is in violation of the Health & Safety Code. If unlicensed care does not cease, civil penalties in the amount of $200/day will be assessed,” the investigation report continued.
Kateena plans to appeal the findings, saying she believes her business is exempt from licensing requirements, as noted in the Social Services report and confirmed by Kateena in emails to The Bee. She cites Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations, which includes an exemption that allows private schools to operate after-school child care without a license, provided the instructors are properly qualified. Kateena says Family Taekwondo Plus is a private school.
No statements acknowledging the allegations involving Kasea have been posted to the studio’s website or public social media pages as of Wednesday. But on July 4, the studio posted a letter from the United World Taekwondo Association saying Family Taekwondo Plus remains in “good standing” with the association.
“This letter was made necessary due to misinformation being distributed regarding the status of their school,” the letter says.
The United World Taekwondo Association is headquartered in Roseville and includes dozens of taekwondo schools nationwide, 24 of them in California, according to its website.
Some of Cirincione’s accusations in the court filing were false or misrepresented facts, Allen alleges. Kateena’s court filing said in June 2017, she asked Allen to leave the studio after he “verbally assaulted” Dominic and Kasea during a dispute over Allen’s son’s attire.
Allen tells a different story, claiming Kasea “bullied” his 7-year-old son, essentially mocking him in front of others for forgetting his proper shoes, which lead to an argument. Allen says he stopped taking his son there a few months later for unrelated reasons.
Both Kateena and Allen acknowledged that the latter’s posts started on June 16. As for her reason for filing for the restraining order, Kateena wrote: “Affecting business causing undue financial distress.” Elsewhere in the document, Kateena claims two students quit on June 17, a day after “(Allen’s) direct message blitz.”
Allen’s social media posts drew mixed response from other Facebook users. At least two wrote in comments that he was “out of line” for posting information about a criminal case that has not been tried in court. Others told him they appreciated that he’d brought it to parents’ attention.
Profile Image of Michael McGough
Michael McGough
916-326-5508
Michael McGough anchors The Sacramento Bee’s breaking news reporting team, covering public safety and other local stories. A Sacramento native and lifelong capital resident, he interned at The Bee while attending Sacramento State, where he earned a degree in journalism.