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Harry "Craig" Conaway has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for sex offenses involving two children, one of whom was a student at his homemade dojo, while the other came forward after suffering from child sexual abuse more than two decades ago.
"As an instructor of martial arts, (Conaway) was expected to instill confidence and teach self-defense," Anne Arundel County State's Attorney Anne Colt Leitess said. "As it turned out, the students needed defense against their own teacher who groomed and engaged them in sexual acts,"
In July 2023, a 10-year-old boy reported that he was sexually abused by Conaway, who was his karate instructor at the time.
The boy said he took lessons at Conaway's dojo on weekends while visiting his biological father, who lived on the same street. The lessons would take place in a storage shed that was converted into a small dojo on Conaway's property in Hanover.
Prosecutors say that the boy disclosed Conaway was abusive with punches and would order him to shower at the end of each lesson in a stall outside the dojo.
While the boy was showering, he said that Conaway would lean over the short privacy wall and watch.
During the nine-month period, he also said Conaway forced him to ingest capsules that would make him sleepy, measured his genitalia and other lewd acts, and sexually assaulted him.
In May 2023, he said he was told to practice at the dojo while Conaway was not home; however, when the boy arrived, Conaway was inside the dojo and tried to force the boy to touch him inappropriately, though he was able to escape and ran home.
After the child came forward and the initial charges were filed, a 35-year-old also came forward and identified himself as an adult survivor of Conaway.
According to prosecutors, his abuse spanned from July 2001 through 2003, when he was between 13 and 15 years old.
The man said he was a student of Conaway's dojo and would practice on the weekends while staying at a relative's home nearby.
During that time, he said Conaway would massage him, which led to sexual acts. He eventually sought counseling and came forward after hearing that Conaway had recently abused another youth.
"I commend both the young survivor who felt confident and secure enough to report what was happening to him, Leitess added. "His courage led to a second victim also feeling empowered to come forward to also report his own terrible experience when he was a teenager."
Conaway pleaded guilty in February to two counts of third-degree sex offense. He's been held without bond since being arrested.
In addition to his prison term, a judge also ordered Conaway serve a mandatory five years of supervised probation and may not return to his Hanover home, where he ran the dojo.
He was also ordered to have no contact with his victims or other minor children and will be placed on a lifetime sex offender registry.
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