The Allied Gardens School of Martial Arts has been closed down by its owner, Eric Protas. This closure has occurred in the wake of a court case against the 38-year old martial arts instructor for sexually abusing a teenage boy who was a student at the Martial Arts School.

Protas, charged with twenty-four counts of taking part in sexual acts with the boy since he was thirteen, was freed on an $800,000 bail. The criminal trial against the accused is taking place in El Cajon court where he was ordered to stay away from the teenage boy he is alleged to have abused. He has also been ordered to surrender a 9mm gun he owns to the La Mesa police.

This was at the request of Deputy District Attorney, John Philpott, citing the seriousness of the crimes Protas is being charged with and stating that the accused must not be allowed to bear firearms of any kind.

Judge Allen Preckel, who is presiding over the case, gave permission to proceed to scrutinize confidential school records on the teenage accuser.

Eric Protas announced the closure of the School through a Facebook page formed to protest his innocence and gave indicators that the closure would last until the case had been tried. In his statement on the social networking page, he accused the boy of bringing a school that has helped thousands of people to disrepute. He, however, refused to speak to reporters outside the court on Monday.

Image Credit: