Martial Arts Teacher Pleads Guilty To Inwood Sex Abuse: DA Says

INWOOD, NY — A man who taught martial arts in Upper Manhattan pleaded guilty to sexually abusing four teenage students in the basement of an Inwood building, prosecutors announced.

Hector Bencosme, 58, is facing a decade in prison after pleading guilty to five counts of use of child in a sexual performance as a sexually motivated felony, one count of second-degree sexual abuse and three counts of third-degree sexual abuse, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., announced.

Bencosme taught martial arts lessons at apartment buildings on Post Avenue and Vermilyea Avenue while going by the name Kiko Valoy, prosecutors said. Between March 15 and May 25, Bencosme allegedly sexually abused four female students at the Post Avenue building and was arrested on May 26 when two students called the police, prosecutors said.

The martial arts teacher was convicted on sex abuse charges in January of 2001 for sexually abusing martial arts students in the same Post Avenue building, prosecutors said. Bencosme fled the country before he could be sentenced.

Bencosme will be sentenced for the 2001 and 2018 charges in November, prosecutors said.

"As a martial arts instructor, this defendant used his unfettered access to children to manipulate and abuse them," Vance said in a statement. "Even more disturbing, however, is the pattern of abuse; he continued to exploit students 17 years after his conviction for virtually the same crime."