Friday, February 13, 2015

Redline BJJ instructor jailed in Oklahoma for child sex offenses

Whitney Fetters, a BJJ instructor at Redline BJJ in Edmond Oklahoma, faces charges for soliciting sexual contact with a minor among others. I wrote an article about it for Bloody Elbow today.

Yesterday, Redline BJJ made this statement on their facebook page-- kudos...

"We have been waiting on an arrest to make an official statement. Now that Whitney has turned herself in we can speak about it.

We are very saddened and shocked as anyone else. No one could have predicted anything like this happening.

The Gracie Academy runs extensive background checks on every person attempting to get certified. She was no exception.

In Winter 2013 & Spring 2014 Whitney Fetters attempted to be an Instructor at Redline. She attended the ICP camps at the Gracie Academy January 2014, but she never quite made the grade.

In the summer of 2014 Whitney went MIA from Redline & no one saw her in or outside of Redline in over 8 months prior to January 2015 in which Whitney attended a few classes stating she was starting over fresh as a student.

We take situations like this very serious. Our students safety is our number 1 concern in every aspect. Unfortunately, Whitney will no longer be allowed to visit or train at Redline.

She's only assisted a few kids classes in the past (spring 2014), but hasn't been an instructor of any kind at our facility in over 8 months.

This incident did not take place at Redline & we have no connection to the boy or his family. We give our deepest condolences to him, his & her family, & everyone affected.

We are deeply saddened & shocked just like the rest of the jiu-jitsu community, but we know this shall pass.

We really appreciate those of you in the jiu-jitsu community that have reached out to us in this situation with love & understanding.

Huge Thanks to those of you that have sent kind words & support during this time.

-The Redline Team"

2 comments:

Fill said...

FYI - the pink belt only signifies that the person has completed the Women Empowered curriculum and received a passing evaluation. It does not signify an instructor. Great article, keep up the good work!

Paul said...

Hey Georgette,

Another question for you, if you don't mind.

What struck me about your article was even the idea that a blue belt would be called an instructor.

How common is it in schools for people who aren't brown, or at least purple belts, to be called instructors? Don't get me wrong, where I train we have a great 4 stripe blue belt that runs the kids program, but our 2nd degree black belt is in the class, he just doesn't run it (I would kind of guess that he observes the blue belt a bit, and it is part of the training to get his purple belt). I'd be pretty sad if I went to a school and I wasn't getting instruction from a black belt (or at least a brown).

What are your thoughts on instructor qualifications? I can see how people would think that a blue belt could run an intro class, but I'm of a mind that intro classes are a great place for close professional instruction.