Child faced repeated sexual assaults at Horry County martial arts gym, family claims
A young girl faced repeated sexual assaults while locked in rooms at a Myrtle Beach area gym, according to a lawsuit.
Last week, the parents of the victim filed a lawsuit in Horry County Court against Frank Schauer, Frank Schauer Jr. and BJJ 4 MMA LLC. The company is an Horry County, South Carolina, based gym, though the lawsuit does not name the gym. A business license search on the state’s Attorney General’s website only lists the corporation name, not the gym’s name.
Schauer owned the gym and Schauer Jr. worked at the gym when the family became members in 2016, according to the lawsuit. The child took Jiu-Jitsu classes at the gym, where Schauer Jr. was a teacher.
In May 2019, the child told her parents that Schauer Jr. sexually assaulted her, according to the lawsuit. Schauer Jr. locked the victim in rooms, touched her, asked her to have sex, put her face in his genitals and did not let her out of the room until someone knocked on the door, the lawsuit states.
The assaults allegedly took place at the gym and Schauer’s home.
Horry County police investigated the claims, the suit states, and Schauer Jr. fled to New York to avoid prosecution.
The family says the gym and the Schauers were negligent for not taking action to minimize the danger to the victim. The Schauers’ actions led to pain, suffering, emotional distress and medical costs for the victim and her family. The suit asks for an unspecified amount of money.
A phone number for Frank Schauer in Myrtle Beach no longer is operational. A gym where Schauer once worked is closed because of coronavirus, though neither Schauer or Schauer Jr. is listed as a coach on the gym’s website.
