Air Force security officer accused of having sexual relationship with girl when she was 12

OMAHA, Neb. (TCD) -- A 27-year-old man is accused of having a sexual relationship with a juvenile who was one of his tae kwon do students.

According to WOWT-TV, John Channel was arrested and booked into the Douglas County Jail on suspicion of first-degree sexual assault and other charges following a months-long investigation. Channel reportedly works as a civilian security officer at the Offutt Air Force Base.

Court documents cited by WOWT say the victim met Channels when she was 10 years old when he started teaching her tae kwon do. The girl allegedly told police they had a sort of "relationship" between 2019 to 2021, starting when she was 12 years old. She allegedly sent him photos of herself and sexual text messages.

Channels allegedly said he knew the photos would get him into trouble, but the court documents say he asked the girl to continue sending them. KETV-TV reports investigators found the images on his iPad.

According to the documents cited by WOWT, the girl allegedly told police Channels forced her to perform oral sex on him when she was 12 or 13 years old. He would also allegedly drive her home from tae kwon do lessons and make her touch him.

The girl confirmed to police that the photos on Channels’ iPad were, in fact, of her when she was 12 to 14 years old.

The alleged assaults occurred in Atlantic, Iowa, and Douglas County, Nebraska.

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