Martial arts teacher charged with molesting young teen
Chula Vista Superior Court (Pauline Repard/San Diego Union-Tribune)
Pauline Repard
A South Bay martial arts instructor has been charged with molesting a 13-year-old girl at his home in National City two weeks ago.
Gabriel Abel Gonzalez, 39, pleaded not guilty in Chula Vista Superior Court on Wednesday to four felony counts of committing a lewd act on a child.
He is accused of touching the girl on four private parts of her body on Aug. 18.
His bail was raised from $100,000 to $400,000 because of the number of charges, Deputy District Attorney Julie Lynn said.
The alleged victim was not a student at the gym where Gonzalez worked. Authorities have said they have no evidence that any students or other children are victims.
Gonzalez turned himself in to National City police on Saturday, but was released until Monday, when he was arrested and booked into jail.
Gonzalez, who has made a living as a personal trainer at various gyms, was hired about six months ago to teach Brazilian jiu-jitsu at Chula Vista Jiu-Jitsu Club, according to his own former trainer.
Elias Gallegos, 42, owner of Alliance BJJ Eastlake, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu training gym, said Gonzalez has been his student for 15 years.
“He came up through me, from a white-belt (novice),” Gallegos said in an interview. “He couldn’t pay, so he helped me in classes as an assistant instructor. He was doing a great job.”
When other students under Gallegos opened the Chula Vista club about a year ago, they later took on Gonzalez as an instructor, Gallegos said.
Gallegos said he received an anonymous phone call last Friday from a person who claimed Gonzalez had molested a girl and persuaded her to keep quiet about it.
He confronted Gonzalez about it that night.
“He took a deep breath and said, ‘Let me explain,’” Gonzalez said. “It made me sick to my stomach. I lost it. I said, ‘That’s it, you’re done, you’re fired.’
“I told him he had two options — go on the run or turn himself in.”
Gonzalez gave him details on exactly what he had done to the girl, when, and where, Gallegos said.
Gallegos then called the alleged victim’s father, a friend, and told him when he had learned.
“It was one of the most difficult conversations I’ve ever had,” Gallegos said.
He said that on Monday he convened a meeting with parents of his young martial arts students and told them what had happened with Gonzalez.
“Everyone was numb, in shock,” Gallegos said.
“You hear about it (child molest allegations) but when it comes home to you — I feel like I’m in a bad dream. It’s devastating. I would have said Gabe is my brother, before.
“You see people try to hide it, but I want people to know I have zero tolerance here.”
The alleged victim’s father called Chula Vista police on Saturday to report the molestation. A police official said they took a report out of courtesy, even though the allegation was that the abuse occurred in National City, at Gonzalez’s home.
The Chula Vista police report was then forwarded to National City on Monday, and officers there used the complaint as a basis for arresting Gonzalez, authorities said.