Tae Kwon Do instructor arrested for allegedly molesting his students

A man teaching Tae Kwon Do to children, had to close his business Tuesday when Tulsa Police led him away in handcuffs. <br><br>News on Six crime reporter Lori Fullbright has the exclusive story of a trusted

Tuesday, August 13th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

A man teaching Tae Kwon Do to children, had to close his business Tuesday when Tulsa Police led him away in handcuffs.

News on Six crime reporter Lori Fullbright has the exclusive story of a trusted instructor now facing charges of molesting his students.

Michael Le is an award-winning Master in the art of Tae Kwon Do, who's been teaching children in the Tulsa area for nearly seven years. On this day though, police handcuffed Le in front of his students and took him to jail. Tulsa Police Detective Rod Russo, Sex Crimes: "He's running a day camp for children and there were some girls under his supervision. So, we called their parents and they came and picked em up."

The school is now empty and locked. The tools of the trade hanging in the windows, trophies lining the walls. An affidavit for Le's arrest warrant says the inappropriate touching began when the girls were 14 and progressed to intercourse by the time they were 16. "What he'd do as his role as instructor and mentor, he built that trust and taught them honesty and discipline, then, took advantage of that with these children."

The affidavit also says two of the three victims kept diaries of the abuse, including times, places and a list of the sexual activities. One girl even kept the ticket stubs from the movies where she says Le touched her. Detectives interviewed Le for more than an hour. He is 26 years old. Police say the abuse has been happening since Le was 21.

Police say based on the considerable amount of evidence they've collected and the things Le told them during the interview, he was not only arrested, but bond was set at $700,000." Le taught children as young as four and five years old. Police believe additional victims exist and say worried parents are already calling the police department with information.

Detectives say the loss of trust had gone too far, so these girls decided to come forward. What spurred them on was they say they saw Le talking to other young girls the way he first approached them and they didn't want it to happen to anyone else.

A Tulsa Police affidavit, which is public record, contains many details we could not mention, but, if parents have questions about this case, they can get a copy of it from the Tulsa County Courthouse,