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'Appalling:' Georgia karate coach still coaching despite jury finding he molested 4 former students

It's not clear if jurors understood when they awarded punitive damages that the sexual assault victims would receive no money.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A popular Georgia karate coach was found liable Thursday for molesting four former students. But despite a jury’s decision to award the now-adult men punitive damages, they won’t see a penny. And despite the verdict, Craig Peeples continues coaching.

It’s an outcome that stunned and confused observers. Three-time Olympic gold medalist and lawyer Nancy Hogshead-Makar calls it “appalling.”

“It’s appalling that someone could find someone was sexually abused --  a child was sexually abused -- and not have any [monetary] damages,” she said.

Hogshead-Makar, who was herself sexually assaulted in college – a fact she has spoken about publicly – is a leading voice on sexual abuse of athletes. He organization Champion Women focuses on sexual harassment and assault. The group helped pass the Empowering Olympic and Amateur Athletes Act of 2019, legislation designed to protect athletes from exploitation. It does not apply to coaches outside the Olympic competitive arena, however, so coaches like Peeples are not subject to its strictures.

Peeples, who owns and coaches at the Pak’s Karate studio in Kingsland, Ga., was accused by seven former students of more than a decade of sexual abuse. The criminal statute of limitations expired by the time state investigators deemed their allegations credible in 2014, so they filed a civil suit.

The jury found Peeples did molest four of the seven, but awarded zero in compensatory damages – typically used to compensate for pain and suffering, and pay for medical care.

“It just shows how -- not just this particular jury, but people in general -- don’t appreciate the cost of what gets inflicted. It really does cost money out of people’s pockets to be raped, to be sexually assaulted, to be abused -- particularly as a child.”

The jury said the men were entitled to punitive damages, but Superior Court Judge Stephen Scarlett said Georgia law only allowed punitive damages to be awarded in addition to compensatory damages. It doesn’t appear jurors understood that.

“The system is brutal on victims,” said Hogshead-Makar. “There’s nobody that I know of that goes through this system that doesn’t get chewed up by it. It’s really harsh. And right now, the only way to get molesters off is to ask people to go through this brutal process.

King and Spalding, the law firm that represented the seven plaintiffs pro bono, is expected to file an appeal of the decision not to award punitive damages. The firm issued this statement after the verdict:

“Seven brave men who alleged they were sexually abused by Craig Peeples came forward and brought this case under the Hidden Predator Act. Their purpose was to obtain justice for themselves and to prevent any other children from being victimized by Craig Peeples. We are grateful that the jury confirmed for the world that Craig Peeples sexually molested his former students. We are also grateful that the jury found that Craig Peeples should be punished through an award of punitive damages. Craig Peeples is a hidden predator no longer.

We look forward to retrying the claims of the remaining plaintiffs for which the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict.”

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