Jonathan Knight, a children's Tae Kwon Do instructor in Glendale, was in Maricopa County Superior Court this morning where he pleaded not guilty to charges that he sent photos of his penis to one of his 12-year-old female students.
Knight was arrested last month and faces four counts of furnishing obscene material to a minor and one count of aggravated luring of a child for sexual exploitation.
According to court documents obtained by New Times, in early October, the girl's father discovered text messages Knight had sent his daughter and confronted her about them. Knight's message said the girl was "gorgeous" and that he loved her.
Other messages Knight sent -- including a photo of his penis -- had been deleted by the girl, she later admitted to her father.
The girl's father turned over her phone to police so they could try to recover any images that might have been deleted. The victim's father also gave cops permission to pose as his daughter when text messaging Knight.
On Wednesday, Knight text messaged the girl's phone -- which was now in the possession of police -- and asked if he could send her a photo. The officer who had the girl's phone told Knight to go right ahead, which he did.
The photos Knight sent -- four of them -- were all of his penis.
The next day, Knight sent another text message to the girl's phone saying he wanted to have sex with her. He promised he'd wear a condom and "pull out" so she wouldn't get pregnant.
Police arranged a meeting for Knight and "the girl" at the victim's parents' home -- which is where Knight was found and arrested about 7:15 p.m. Thursday.
Once in custody, Knight admitted to police that he'd sent the photos to the girl and that he'd discussed "pulling out" with her so she wouldn't get pregnant if the two had sex. However, despite getting arrested while standing in front of the girl's house, Knight claims he had no intentions of actually having sex with the girl.
Knight's next court date is scheduled for January 4.
