Grand Master Dr. Dan Lusica

hal-apino

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Martial Arts Instructor Arrested For Sex Crimes Against Minor'

Written by Carol Rock Friday, 07 January 2011 14:30 A martial arts instructor was arrested at his place of business shortly before noon Wednesday by detectives from the Sheriff’s Special Victims Bureau for inappropriately touching a minor child.
Lt. Mark Hershey of the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s station said that Dante Lusica, 64, was arrested on suspicion of committing a sex crime against an 8-year-old female who was a student at TaeKwonDo Center, USA on Bouquet Canyon Road.


He is being held in lieu of $250,000 bail and was scheduled to appear in court Friday.
Lusica, who is listed on the center’s website as Grandmaster Dr. Dan Lusica, is the President of the PanAm Chung Do Kwan TaeKwon Do Foundation and holds a 9th degree black belt. According to the site, he developed the first TaeKwonDo afterschool program for developmentally challenged children.
Detectives are investigating the incident and would like to hear from anyone with information regarding the case or those who may be considered additional victims. Contact Detective Richard Simmons at 661-799-5809.

http://hometownstation.com/index.ph...011-01-07-13-28&catid=26:local-news&Itemid=97


http://tkdcusa.com/content/grandmaster-dr-dan-lusica
 

miguksaram

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What really sucks is if he is innocent, it won't matter, because this will always encourage doubt in people's mind simply because he was accused.
 

terryl965

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Well this is going to hurt him just because it was printed. People need to make sure what is fractual and what is fiction.
 

Carol

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Isn't anyone concerned about the victim(s)?
 

terryl965

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Isn't anyone concerned about the victim(s)?

Yes of course but the question has to be ask was there really a victim? I mean one report he was charged, while another was said to be questioning and was not charged. If the victims made up the alligation than who is the true victim here?
 

StudentCarl

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Isn't anyone concerned about the victim(s)?

I don't think the above comments reflect a lack of concern for students, but a question of whether a crime was committed. If there was a crime, there is a victim. If there was no crime, then the question is what happened.

I work in a high school and have seen outright lies, miscommunications and misinterpretations that go from parents to media with little or no investigation to determine truth. Sometimes the victims are the truth and the child who is a pawn in adult drama. It is unfortunate for any person (at any age) to be in this situation.
 

IcemanSK

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Carol, I was and still am, worried about any potential victims. As I said, I wondered why no other news agency in my town picked it up. (we're big on those kinda stories, here). This is one possible explanation as to why. If there's enough evidence to hold him, then he should be held. If not, let him go. My guess is, either way, he will loose students.
 

miguksaram

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Isn't anyone concerned about the victim(s)?
Question is who is the victim? GM Lusica may be the victim here if they allegations are false.

We had a case in our area not to long ago where a high school gymnastics coach was accused of sexual misconduct because it was alleged that he inappropriately touched a couple of the female athletes. He explained that in order to help them with their move he had to place his hands on certain spots of their body to correctly spot them for their safety. When one girl thought it was not right she made the charges, which led to a mob frenzy of allegations. In the end, they had several other gymnastic coaches as witnesses saying that what he did was indeed the correct way in helping the athlete. However at this point his reputation was shot by these allegations and he couldn't go back to work. So who is the victim?
 

mango.man

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I am highly suspicious of any lawyer letter that refers to the suspect in any sort of a criminal proceeding as "Our beloved grandmaster".

I suspect more details will become available over time.

PS, I met this guy once a few years ago. I think I posted here about him at the time. We were at a competition in Pasadena, CA and Sam had just soundly defeated one of his students. He came over and talked to me after words and asked that she come to his upcoming World Championships in a few weeks at a local high school gym.

I explained, sorry we have no plans on attending and his response, in a pleading yet excited tone, was "But It's The World Championships!!!"

We actually did go, but not to compete, just to watch and see what sort of people showed up and possibly recruit some new talent for Team X as we were just getting started at the time. I saw a phenomenal young lady fight (at least in comparison to all the others I watched fight) and I went to talk to her father about joining us and I realized it was Gigi Gil, who at the time was already training part time with Team-X. Otherwise it was probably one of the worst events I have attended, especially when you consider that it was THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS!
 

miguksaram

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I am highly suspicious of any lawyer letter that refers to the suspect in any sort of a criminal proceeding as "Our beloved grandmaster".

I suspect more details will become available over time.

PS, I met this guy once a few years ago. I think I posted here about him at the time. We were at a competition in Pasadena, CA and Sam had just soundly defeated one of his students. He came over and talked to me after words and asked that she come to his upcoming World Championships in a few weeks at a local high school gym.

I explained, sorry we have no plans on attending and his response, in a pleading yet excited tone, was "But It's The World Championships!!!"

We actually did go, but not to compete, just to watch and see what sort of people showed up and possibly recruit some new talent for Team X as we were just getting started at the time. I saw a phenomenal young lady fight (at least in comparison to all the others I watched fight) and I went to talk to her father about joining us and I realized it was Gigi Gil, who at the time was already training part time with Team-X. Otherwise it was probably one of the worst events I have attended, especially when you consider that it was THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS!

Ok...so the guy throws a crappy tournament, doesn't mean he is touching little girls. As for the lawyer note, I have heard many people refer to instructors as great grand master or Supreme grand master....that is a whole topic for another time but again, doesn't mean he is doing anything wrong.

This is definitly one that we will have to wait and see what happens. If he did do it, I hope that cut off his balls and I hope the victim receive the due counseling she needs. However if he didn't do it, I hope that he will not be ruined because of a misunderstanding or an outwardly false accusation.
 

Daniel Sullivan

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My prayers go out for the child in question, the grandmaster, his family, and the other students and staff at the dojang.

Regardless of the outcome, all involved should be kept in prayer.

Best case is that this a misunderstanding or miscommunication of some kind, thought it will likely have negative and possibly long term ramifications for the GM and the school.

Daniel
 

Miles

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I don't know the GM or the lawyer. But the lawyer indicated his TKD rank-he is likely a student of GM Lusica and hence, "our beloved grandmaster."

There is a presumption of innocence until proven guilty-like Miguksaram, I am waiting to see how this works itself out. Even if he is not proven guilty, his image will have taken a hit. If he is found guilty, he'll face the consequences-my understanding is that the prison population doesn't care for child abusers....
 

mango.man

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Innocent until proven guilty only exists in a court of law. In the court of public opinion, anything goes.

That said, I will wait until more information is available about this particular case. However, if my child were a student of his, I would be certain to supervise every moment that he spends with my child and carefully scrutinize every thing he does as he interacts with the students.
 

Daniel Sullivan

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Innocent until proven guilty only exists in a court of law. In the court of public opinion, anything goes.
Yes, and a news media that thrives on the sensational knows this and exploits it to the greatest degree possible.

Not to mention the general ignorance of the general public (collectively) to begin with. One of the reasons that public opinion should never be a factor in a trial.

Daniel
 
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hal-apino

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If you go to www.lasd.org and enter his name in the inamte infomation it will show that he was arrested and booked held in the jail for 2 days was released on the 7th for

Booking No.: 2597562 Last Name: LUSICA First Name: DANTE Middle Name: VILLANUEV

Sex: M Race: H Date Of Birth: 11/16/1946 Age: 64 Hair: BLK Eyes: BRO Height: 506 Weight: 165
Arrest Date: 01/05/2011 Arrest Time: 1200 Arrest Agency: 0601 Agency Description: LASD-SANTA CLARITA VALLEY PATROL

Something does not add up when the sheriff department clearly list him as being arrested on 10/5/11 he was released on the 7th, from what I am reading it was due to not enough evidence to hold him. I am not sure if this is an on going investigation or not.
His beloved grandmaster however was arrested from what I am reading, if he is Guilty or not I have no Idea!
 
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hal-apino

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Well this is going to hurt him just because it was printed. People need to make sure what is fractual and what is fiction.


I always make sure what I post is Factual! Infact I have made a few calls and It might surprise a few that the letter from the attorney is GONE! Imagine that!
 

Carol

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Doesn't seem too surprising to me, considering he was threatening plagues of locusts on the news outlets that reported the story...but curiously enough the story appeared to have been up for several days without a retraction. I worked in broadcasting many moons ago, news outlets take that kind of stuff very seriously.

An emphasis was made on how he became renown for his programs for special needs children. If it plays out that the alleged victim is a special needs child, I think it goes without saying that deciphering the whos, whats, and whens make a particularly complex and delicate matter for all parties in the picture.

Going back to hidey-hole, big storm's comin ;)
 

IcemanSK

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If you go to www.lasd.org and enter his name in the inamte infomation it will show that he was arrested and booked held in the jail for 2 days was released on the 7th for

Booking No.: 2597562 Last Name: LUSICA First Name: DANTE Middle Name: VILLANUEV

Sex: M Race: H Date Of Birth: 11/16/1946 Age: 64 Hair: BLK Eyes: BRO Height: 506 Weight: 165
Arrest Date: 01/05/2011 Arrest Time: 1200 Arrest Agency: 0601 Agency Description: LASD-SANTA CLARITA VALLEY PATROL

Something does not add up when the sheriff department clearly list him as being arrested on 10/5/11 he was released on the 7th, from what I am reading it was due to not enough evidence to hold him. I am not sure if this is an on going investigation or not.
His beloved grandmaster however was arrested from what I am reading, if he is Guilty or not I have no Idea!

I'm glad that you posted this Hal-apino, but I'm curious how you found this. This is from a small town radio station, not a big media outlet. Were you looking for this sort of news story and ran across this one?
 

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