A Baltimore karate instructor who formerly taught classes at Baltimore City Public Schools was charged with sex abuse of a minor, second-degree rape and other sex offenses, Baltimore Police said Thursday.
Stephen Kenion, 56, is accused of having multiple intimate relationships with minors since 2009, relationships that he formed using his position as a karate instructor, police said. “Detectives believe that Stephen Kenion has preyed on more young girls, and are hoping they will come forward,” police wrote in a news release.
Four victims told police that they met Kenion at their various schools as students in his after-school karate class. The victims ranged in age from 8 to 14, police wrote in charging documents. In each case, the girl described spending time and sleeping at Kenion’s house. They told police they were sexually abused at his house and at his karate studio in Dundalk.
One victim was impregnated at age 15, when Kenion was 43 years old. Kenion and a 10-year-old girl had a sexual relationship until she was 17, and it ended when Kenion invited another young girl to live with him, police wrote in charging documents. A third victim told police she was afraid to report the abuse that started when she was 8 because Kenion knew martial arts. She eventually told a school counselor, which launched the investigation.
Kenion is currently in Central Booking and waiting to see a court commissioner. He has not yet retained an attorney, according to online court records. Police charged Kenion with perverted practices, second-degree rape, numerous counts of second-degree assault and other sex offenses.
Police ask anyone with information or who has previously been victimized by Kenion to call Special Investigations detectives at 410-396-2076.