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Charleston Karate teacher accused of Sex Abuse takes Plea Deal, won't serve prison time

charleston karate teacher accused of sex abuse takes plea deal won t serve prison time
Al Cannon Detention Center

CHARLESTON (WCIV) A former Mount Pleasant karate instructor accused of sexually assaulting female students has accepted a plea deal in lieu of a trial more than three years after his arrests.

James Buchen pleaded guilty in Charleston County general sessions court Wednesday to a charge of first-degree assault and battery with non-consensual touching of a victim’s private parts for sexual gratification. Circuit Judge Bentley Price sentenced Buchen to five years in prison, suspended to five years of probation. This means Buchen will not serve prison time unless he violates his probation.

Debbie Herring-Lash prosecuted Buchen for the 9th Circuit Solicitor’s Office. She says Judge Price also ordered Buchen must undergo sex offender treatment, submit to a polygraph test every 90 days, and meet other requirements in order to avoid prison. Buchen will not, however, be required to register as a sex offender. Herring-Lash said she asked Judge Price for Buchen to be deemed a sex offender, but the judge did not order such. Instead, Herring-Lash says Buchen has been added to South Carolina’s Central Registry of Child Abuse, a database of abusers kept by the Department of Social Services.

That means Buchen’s history of assault on a minor will be discoverable on background checks should he ever again attempt to work or volunteer in a role that would place him in contact with children. Charleston Police originally charged Buchen in December 2017 with one count each of second- and third-degree criminal sexual conduct with minors after two former martial arts students came forward to accuse him of sexually molesting them.

Mount Pleasant Police charged Buchen a month later with third-degree assault and battery after a third former karate student came forward to say Buchen also inappropriately touched her. Herring-Lash says she was not able to go forward with prosecution of the assault and battery charge by Mount Pleasant Police after it was determined the encounter was consensual and the victim was not a minor. Herring-Lash says prosecution also could not move forward on the third-degree sexual assault charge by Charleston Police, but said she could not elaborate on the circumstances.

The second-degree sexual assault charge would’ve carried up to a 20-year sentence if convicted. The lesser felony of first-degree assault and battery to which Buchen pleaded guilty carried only a 10-year maximum prison sentence. Buchen, 49, of Huger, was formerly affiliated with Buchen Martial Arts, a training academy based in Charleston. Buchen also hosted instructional camps offsite throughout the Lowcountry, including at churches.

Authored by Drew Tripp via ABC News August 19th 2021

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