A Central Florida jiu-jitsu instructor raped a young student after luring her to a location to sexually assault her.
After a two-day trial last week, a Volusia County jury found defendant Joel Gingery guilty of two counts of Sexual Battery.
Gingery, a Central Florida jiu-jitsu instructor and owner of Trident Jiu-Jitsu in Ormond Beach, also formerly worked as a nurse at Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach.
On August 22, 2022, Gingery, 57 at the time, was working a shift at Halifax Health. He lured one of his jiu-jitsu students, who was only 18 years old at the time, to the hospital by calling her and saying he wanted to help with the costs of her training.
However, when the victim arrived, he took her into an on-call room, barricaded the door shut with a table and sexually assaulted her.
“The defendant/rapist is especially detestable,” State Attorney R.J. Larizza said about Gingery. “He lured an impressionable, young girl who trusted him. I hope our victim/survivor finds some solace in his conviction.”
The case was investigated by the Daytona Beach Police Department. Assistant State Attorneys Helen Schwartz and Nancy Simpson successfully tried the case for the state. The Honorable Elizabeth Blackburn presided over the case and will pronounce sentence at a later date.
Gingery faces up to 30 years in prison for the crimes.
