A Poway karate instructor who had unlawful sex with a girl over a 3 1/2-year period, beginning when she was 14, was sentenced Friday to four years and four months in state prison.
Josh Thomas Churchill, who was also ordered to register as a sex offender for life, pleaded guilty last month to 10 charges, including committing a lewd act on a child and unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor.
Churchill, 32, apologized for what he called an “error in judgment,” but Judge Polly Shamoon told the defendant that he abused a position of trust, knowing the victim was a troubled child.
“What you did was destroy a young life,” the judge told the defendant.
Churchill — the owner and operator of United Studios Self Defense Karate Studio — had sex with the girl at various locations, including a car, the karate studio and a cousin’s home, said Deputy District Attorney Lisa Fox.
The prosecutor said Churchill had unprotected sex with the victim even though he knew he had a venereal disease and got the girl pregnant at 16. Churchill told the victim not to tell anyone what happened and that he would leave his wife when the teen turned 18, according to the prosecutor.
The victim took a job working for Churchill but quit when he cut her pay, Fox said.
In May, Churchill got into a physical altercation with the victim’s father over a cell phone that contained graphic text messages, according to the prosecutor.
“This man is a predator,” the victim’s aunt told the judge. “He chose to do the things he did to her.”
She said her niece’s father put his daughter in karate because she had been attacked when she was younger.
The victim, who is now 18, told the judge that she was afraid of Churchill and that he had threatened her.
“This man put me through unspeakable things,” she said.
Defense attorney Kerry Armstrong unsuccessfully argued that Churchill — who had no prior record — should be placed on probation and given a year in jail. The judge also rejected Armstrong’s alternative requests for a 90-day prison psychological study or a two-year prison term.
The defendant — who is a third-degree black belt in karate — was originally charged with 52 counts. He was arrested in June.
— City News Service
