Karate instructor accused of sexually assaulting teen student

CROMWELL — A local karate instructor was charged Wednesday with sexually assaulting a 16year-old female student, police said.

Orest Markiv, 31, was charged with two counts of second-degree sexual assault after police received a complaint in March that he was having an inappropriate relationship with a 16-year-old female student at Impact Martial Arts on Main Street, where he was an instructor, according to a news release and the warrant for his arrest.

Markiv was released on $150,000 bail after his arraignment Wednesday at state Superior Court in Middletown, officials said. A judge issued a protective order in the case during the arraignment, court staff said. He is due back in court on May 9.

The allegations were brought to attention of police by the girl’s mother, who was informed by another karate instructor who knew the girl’s family and Markiv, according to the warrant. The girl is now 17 but the incidents occurred when she was 16, the warrant said.

The mother told police that her daughter at first insisted that she and Markiv didn’t have a sexual relationship but the girl said they had held hands, according to the warrant. The mother showed police photos from her daughter’s phone of Markiv and the girl holding hands and of him with his arm around the girl while the two were in the water, the warrant said. Another photo showed him appearing to kiss the girl, according to the warrant.

During a forensic interview, the girl admitted that she and Markiv had sex several times at the martial arts studio and other places, the warrant said. They also discussed getting married when she was 18 and had picked out baby names for their future children, the girl told police, according to the

warrant.

The girl told police that last time she recalled she and Markiv having sex was in February, the warrant said. Although she said she still loved him, the girl realized later that “he had manipulated” her, the warrant said.

After discussing the allegations with his attorney, Markiv declined to speak to police, according to the warrant.

Cromwell Police Department Orest Markiv