Fencing coach, 49, 'groomed and sexually abused a student for years'

Fencing coach, 49, 'groomed and sexually abused a student for years'
Fencing coach, 49, 'groomed and sexually abused a student for years'

A fencing coach from California has been accused of grooming a female student for several years, from the time she turned 16, sexually abusing her but promising her parents he would protect her virginity until they are married.

Ra'ad 'Rod' Rabieh, 49, was arrested in Sunnyvale on July 7 on two counts of oral copulation with a minor.

According to a press release from the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety, over the course of multiple years Rabieh, the owner of The International Fencing Academy, began 'grooming' his female student by buying her gifts, 'treating her differently from other fencing students' and traveling alone with her to competitions.

California fencing coach Ra'ad 'Rod' Rabieh, 49, has been charged with two counts of oral copulation with a minor

California fencing coach Ra'ad 'Rod' Rabieh, 49, has been charged with two counts of oral copulation with a minor

When the victim was 17 years old, Rabieh allegedly began molesting her.

Authorities said most of the sexual encounters took place at Rabieh’s apartment in Sunnyvale, while some of the incidents occurred when the coach and his student traveled together out of state to attend competitions.

The allegations against Rabieh, a native of Jordan who has been coaching fencing in the US since 1996, first emerged when his alleged victim, now a woman in her 20s, reached out to the US Center for SafeSport in February.

According to a police report cited by The Mercury News, the woman told a detective that Rabieh began treating her differently than other students as soon as she turned 16 in 2014. By then she had been attending his fencing school for three years.

When the student turned 17 years old, she claimed her and Rabieh's relationship turned sexual.

The woman estimated that she and the coach had about 10 sexual encounters.

According to the accuser, she once thought that she and Rabieh were in a real relationship, and once she turned 18

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