ATLANTA — Residents in a small Georgia town said a dark secret was kept quiet for more than a decade, until six men came forward with their stories.
Despite investigators finding evidence of repeated counts of child sexual abuse allegedly at the hands of a renowned karate instructor, Craig Peeples, the Brunswick Judicial Circuit District attorney could not move forward with their case and the instructor’s studio doors remain open today.
A Channel 2 Action News investigation spent months following a bill this legislative season that could close a loophole in Georgia law and finally give alleged victims access to the court system.
Victims of child sex abuse who say the abuse happened prior to 2012 are barred from seeking prosecution against their alleged predators if they are over 23 except in a small number of cases where there is DNA evidence. This loophole allows many accused predators to escape charges, according to experts.
Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal signed the “Hidden Predator” bill into law on Tuesday. Adults who said they were abused as children call it a small victory.
The new bill would open the door for these victims in civil court and allow them a two year window to sue their accused attackers.
“I was the perfect victim,” Justin Conway told Channel 2 reporter Rachel Stockman.
Conway said he started his karate training at the age of 6, and dreamed of becoming an Olympic athlete, so he trained with Peeples, a man who some consider one of the state’s top karate instructors.
But Conway said he carried a dark secret with him for years of the alleged abuse he suffered as a child while he was a student at Peeples' studio, Pak’s Karate in Camden County.
It took Conway decades to come forward about with the alleged abuse.
“I couldn’t look at another parent in the eye and not have done enough to protect their children,” Conway said.
Marci Hamilton, a professor with the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, said when it comes to protecting children, Georgia’s laws are near the bottom.
“Criminals are attracted to good statutes of limitations for them and this is a great state if you want to sexually abuse a child,” Hamilton said. “These people are in the shadows, hiding.”
In August 2013, Conway reported his allegations of childhood abuse to the Camden County Sheriff’s Office.
Soon another, then another former student came forward with the same allegations. Ultimately, six former Pak’s Karate students told law enforcement they were abused by Peeples.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation took over the case. According to a letter from Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson, there was enough evidence to prosecute Peeples.
“My office has reviewed the findings of the GBI investigation into allegations against Warren Craig Peeples,” Johnson wrote to GBI Special Agent Mike McDaniel on March 6, 2014. “While there is sufficient evidence to proceed with criminal charges for acts involving multiple victims, the State would be barred by the applicable statute of limitations for those acts alleged to have occurred in Camden County.”
The letter stated “multiple acts of sodomy, aggravated sodomy, child molestation, aggravated child molestation and sexual battery” occurred with students at Pak’s Karate, “beginning as early as 1988 and continuing up until 2001.”
But that is where the court doors slammed shut for alleged victims.
A bill addressing the civil statute of limitations, called “The Hidden Predator Act,” was signed into law May 5, 2015, but with some controversy. Advocates said the new law was stripped down by lobbyists and does not do enough to protect victims.
“I think people don’t understand how often this happens,” said Hamilton.
She represents the Camden County victims and said most child sex abuse victims do not come forward until years, even decades after the abuse. She said the average age a child victim comes forward is 40.
“It takes until you've an adult to understand that someone stole your childhood from you,” Hamilton said.
Conway said he was overwhelmed when he learned there was little he, and other alleged victims, could do about the abuse.
“They had GBI evidence, the district attorney had evidence,” Conway said. “Everybody's lives got worse [after]. The community turned against us.”
Peeples continues to run that karate studio. When Stockman traveled to Camden County to ask him about the allegations he refused to comment. Several phone calls to Peeples and his attorney seeking comment for this story were not returned.
WSBTV
