Spanish karate federation initiates private prosecution against former national coach investigated for child abuse in Torremolinos
The case, which is in the pre-trial phase, focuses on offences of sexual assault allegedly committed against pupils between the ages of seven and 16
The Spanish karate federation is to act as a private prosecutor in the case of the former national team coach under investigation for alleged repeated crimes of sexual assault against four minors he taught in Torremolinos, as SUR has been able to confirm.
The suspect, Lorenzo M, 70, has been in provisional detention since the end of August, when the National Police arrested him after learning of these events through the Redime association of Malaga, which specialises in assisting victims of abuse in childhood and adolescence, and which is also involved in the proceedings.
As reported by this newspaper, the facts date back to 2010, but were not revealed until a few months ago. The key to this was the confession of one of the victims to a friend, who had also been a student of the karate teacher. After listening to him, he revealed that he had also been abused -allegedly - as a child by Lorenzo M, which also happened with a third young man.
They were not the only ones affected by the coach, who was dismissed by the Spanish karate federation from his position as national coach of the cadet, junior and under-21 categories as soon as they learned of his arrest. Five years earlier, another boy also broke his silence and told his mother about the ordeal he went through as a boy.
According to sources close to the case, the mother then tried to find out if there were more victims, but allegedly received "pressure" that led her son not to report the facts. However, the woman received a call from the victim who had just discovered that his two friends had been abused. She was the one who asked for help from Redime, as the four young people, now aged between 20 and 25, wanted to file a complaint - above all, for fear that there could be more victims. After this, the organisation's lawyer, María del Carmen Heredia, brought the matter to the attention of the National Police.
Outstanding students
The matter was taken up by the minors group (Grume) of the provincial police station of Malaga, to which the injured parties revealed the alleged sexual assaults they suffered from the time they were around seven years old until they were approximately 15 or 16 years old. According to the investigations, Lorenzo M had a preference for those children who began to excel at an early age in sport and, allegedly, he used his position as an instructor to abuse them.
He allegedly took advantage of the training camps for each competition to share a hotel room with his "favourite pupils", where he allegedly abused them. Similarly, these aggressions were also allegedly committed in the facilities where they trained, especially when the children were showering at the end of the sports sessions. The investigators suspect that the instructor tried to win over the victims by showering them with gifts and attention, as well as giving them favourable treatment compared to other students in order to prevent them from exposing him.
The instructor allegedly provided two of his victims with access to a very prestigious school in Malaga, of which he was one of the partners, as SUR reported. According to sources close to the case, he also granted this aid to a relative of these boys so that they could study at this school.
According to the investigators, this was one of his strategies to ensure the silence of the complainants and, at the same time, to gain the trust and appreciation of their families.
The accused has had a long career in karate in the province, where he began teaching in 1979, being the instructor who has guided dozens of elite athletes in their competitive careers. He was, in fact, one of the most renowned figures at national and international level in the teaching of this sport, which is why he was appointed national coach in 2014.
He was also the founder of the Goju Ryu club, the oldest and most awarded in Andalucía, as well as one of the members of one of the most prestigious private schools in the province, located in Malaga city. In addition, he was a municipal employee of the sports department for several years and in 2021 he was awarded the medal of merit of Torremolinos in the sporting category.
