All you have to do to check out this story is to go to the Facebook page for the Zenith Jiu Jitsu Academy in Apex, N.C. I won’t post a link here, I’ll let you do your own searching so that when you find it, you’ll know it’s legit. Hit their PHOTOS tab and scroll through the photos and you’ll see them right there: pictures of convicted felon Sean Spangler, all smiles and good times, with his arms around a bunch of kids and posing with others.
Good folks of Apex, does this concern you at all? That a guy like Sean Spangler, a convicted felon (Case No. 2:11-cr-00029-KJD-VCF-1) filed in the U.S. District Court, District of Nevada (Las Vegas), is teaching combat skills to your kids? This is the role model you want your children to emulate? A convicted felon, two bankruptcies, a foreclosure and literally pages of liens filed against him? Not someone I’d want my kids hanging around, let alone being taught by him. Can you say, “thug life?”
In August, apparently to escape the heat being brought on him in Las Vegas, he got his federal probation transferred to North Carolina where he now is in charge of teaching morals, character and combat skills at the jiu jitsu academy there. Think about that for a little and let that sink in. This is a guy who was charging rent, then taking the payments and NOT using them to pay the mortgage on the property. Oooops! That’ll get you in trouble pretty quickly. You hear of people who head to Nevada and Las Vegas to escape their pasts and lay low. You almost never hear of the opposite.
Well, that’s Sean Spangler for you. Allegedly doing whatever he needs to do to wriggle out of his past errors of commission. Hey, we’re all for forgiveness here after paying your debt for wrongdoings, but two points to consider: 1) he’s still in the paying back your debt for wrongdoings part and 2) he’s in charge of leading and developing CHILDREN! I mean, really? There’s probably a few used car lots that could use a guy like him. Maybe some landscaping company or excavation/construction group could use a fit guy who likes to work out. But putting him in charge of developing and nurturing kids?!?!?
I can think of a number of different paths for Sean Spangler to get back on the straight and narrow, but acting as a mentor, trainer and teacher for children isn’t one of them. Just call me crazy, I guess. But think about that, good people of Apex, N.C.