Judge ups bail for karate teacher

BROWNSVILLE — The Harlingen karate instructor facing multiple allegations of child molestation went before a district court judge in Brownsville Wednesday, his lawyer arguing that he should still be allowed to teach children at his Harlingen studio.

Carlos Levon Anderson, the husband of a Harlingen police lieutenant and a former Texas Youth Commission correctional officer, turned himself in last month on charges that he sexually assaulted three teenage girls on multiple occasions between 2006 and 2009.

The Cameron County District Attorney’s Office argued in court Wednesday that Anderson, 39, had continued to teach children at the U.S.A. Karate school in Harlingen, despite a previous court order barring Anderson from having any contact with minors.

Assistant District Attorney Oscar Guzman said that since his brief incarceration late last month, Anderson had tried to contact some of the alleged victims and had even badmouthed the girls to the students in some of his classes and over the social networking Web site
MySpace.

Guzman told 107th District Court Judge Benjamin Euresti Jr. Wednesday that Anderson had communicated over the Internet that he was “disgusted” with the girls who made the
allegations, calling them “girls who love pity and attention.”

The DA’s office also cited Anderson’s failure to appear for his initial June 29 court date and asked that his bail be increased. Euresti raised Anderson’s bail from $50,000 to $100,000.

Anderson was taken back into custody after the arraignment Wednesday, the DA’s office said, and would remain detained until he could post the rest of his bond.

A victim’s advocate and family members of some of girls sat in the courtroom for Anderson’s appearance before the judge.

Anderson’s attorney, Noe Garza, told the court that letters notifying Anderson of the initial court appearance were sent to an old and incorrect address and that Anderson didn’t know
about the date. Garza insisted that Anderson was briefly jailed last month “unfairly, unjustly.”

“I think this is a political case, in my opinion,” Garza also said to the court Wednesday.

Anderson’s attorney insisted that it was unfair to bar him from teaching karate in Harlingen, saying it was his sole source of income. He said parents whose children continue to take
karate classes from Anderson know the charges against him, and that “they have expressed
their desire to continue to take their kids to the karate school.”

Euresti upheld the order that Anderson, described in police records as 6-feet, 2 inches tall and weighing 325 pounds, have absolutely no contact with the girls who made the allegations and barred him from using MySpace to contact either the alleged victims or any other underage children.

The judge ruled that Anderson could continue to teach karate classes, but that any parents with children under his instruction must sign a waiver explicitly stating that they know about and understand Anderson’s outstanding charges of sexual abuse.

“I’m going to have to leave that up to them,” Euresti said.

Apart from that exception, Anderson is still barred from having contact with minors, Euresti said.