MIAMI – Authorities have released new video footage in connection to a South Florida karate instructor charged with assaulting one of his underage students.
The body camera footage was taken back in September of last year at the karate school located in a strip mall off Southwest 88th Street and 137th Avenue.
Police showed up to question 58-year-old Darwin Dejesus Rojas-Frias just hours after a one-on-one session in which a 9-year-old girl made the accusations.
According to authorities, the alleged victim told police that Rojas-Frias took her into a small closet, “grabbed one of her hands (and) put it inside his pants,” making her touch his privates.
Detectives said after the class, the girl told her parents, who called police the same day.
The sensei has defended himself, saying the girl’s mother was present for the lesson and denied the accusation.
He added that he only went to the closet because it’s where he keeps equipment.
Rojas-Frias’ wife also defended her husband, saying he has an impeccable reputation, at one point also suggesting there is no small room where the suspected abuse could have taken place.
Rojas-Frias was arrested days later and given no bond.
The karate school has remained closed since.
Rojas-Frias’s attorney recently told Local 10 News that prosecutors better be ready to try a case because innocent men don’t make deals.
Police have also been stressing their concern over whether there may be other children with similar allegations and they are asking anyone who has been victimized to come forward.
Those who believe they have been victimized or parents of children who believe they were victimized are urged to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.