The Attorney General’s Office (AG) of Criminal Prosecutions Division trial team secured a guilty plea against a former martial arts instructor who committed sexual assault of a child, according to a press release.
Troy Lee Smith pleaded guilty to one count of sexual assault of a child and one count of indecency with a child. He was sentenced to eight years in prison.
Smith had been a martial arts instructor at Master Smith’s Martial Arts Academy in Woodville. In 2011, he began meeting privately with one of his students, then 15 years old. Smith inappropriately touched and sexually assaulted the student. The assaults went on for several months, according to the release.
The student reported the assaults to the Tyler County Sheriff’s Office (TCSO) in 2018.