A longtime Milwaukee County martial arts instructor is at the center of a child sex abuse case after a young student told police they had endured years of assaults during private taekwondo lessons. According to court filings, the child reported that they "could not go through another summer of abuse."
The accused instructor, identified in filings as 66-year-old David S. C. Kang, allegedly showed up at the victim’s home while police were there interviewing the family. Investigators say Kang survived a self-inflicted gunshot wound during that encounter. The case is now pending in Milwaukee County Circuit Court.
Charges and alleged abuse
Milwaukee County prosecutors have charged Kang with three counts of repeated sexual assault of a child and one count of second-degree sexual assault of a child under 16, according to court records. The filings state that River Hills police interviewed the child and the child’s parents earlier this month and that the alleged abuse took place over several years during one-on-one taekwondo lessons.
As reported by FOX6 Milwaukee, the criminal complaint draws on Wisconsin Circuit Court records and details the accusations that led to the charges.
How abuse can stay hidden in youth sports
Experts who study abuse in youth settings say the kind of arrangement described in the filings is exactly what can let harm go undetected. Private one-on-one lessons, a strong power imbalance between adult instructor and child, and an informal or trusted setting can all make it much harder for kids to report what is happening.
Melissa Bright, PhD, of the Center for Violence Prevention Research, who focuses on prevention and intervention in youth environments, has noted that children often delay disclosing abuse and that the impact can linger long after the incidents stop. Academic reviews of sexual harm in sports show a wide range of reported rates, which researchers say reflect different methods and chronic underreporting in this area. For background on this research, see work by Melissa Bright, PhD and a review in Frontiers in Sports and Active Living.
Instructor background and state records
According to state records, Kang incorporated a taekwondo studio in Wisconsin in 1991. The business operated for years out of a shopping center near Port Washington and Brown Deer roads in Fox Point, then dissolved in June 2023. Those same records and related reporting indicate he did not hold a state martial-arts permit.
Local reporting also notes it is not clear whether Kang has an attorney and that he has not yet appeared in court. These details are based on state filings and court documents reviewed by FOX6 Milwaukee.
Legal implications
Under Wisconsin law, repeated sexual assaults against the same child constitute a distinct felony offense. The statute defining "engaging in repeated acts of sexual assault of the same child" is set out in Wis. Stat. §948.025.
Second-degree sexual assault of a child is separately defined under Wis. Stat. §948.02. Both offenses are felonies and can carry significant prison time, mandatory sex-offender registration, and other post-conviction consequences, as outlined in the state legal code and summaries of the statutory elements.
What happens next
From here, the case will move through initial appearances and other early court steps in Milwaukee County while investigators and court staff continue processing filings and evidence.
River Hills police are asking anyone with information related to the case to contact the department. Victims and families seeking help with reporting or support services can find resources through the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and the Wisconsin Department of Justice victim-services programs.
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