Florida martial arts instructor facing federal charges for having sex with 12-year-old student

A Florida martial arts instructor has been arrested after luring a 12-year-old student into a sexual relationship; texting her how she could be "like a good whore."

Alexander Johnson, 40, of Boca Raton, is facing federal charges that he enticed or coerced the girl into sexual activity in Broward and Palm Beach counties, according to the Sun Sentinel.

Johnson initially faced state charges in Broward but the case has since been transferred to federal court.

The investigation initially began in 2012 after a friend of Johnson's told police that he had confided that he was having sex with an underage girl.

The girl told investigators that Johnson befriended her in 2011 when he was her martial arts instructor in Boca Raton, after reading poems in her notebook and telling her he could help her get them published. They began texting and talking frequently, with the girl describing their relationship as "awkward and weird."

In July 2012 the girl's mother obtained a restraining order that barred Johnson from contacting the girl.

According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Jodi Anton, Johnson violated the court order within two months, texting back and forth with the girl "every day for several months" on cellphones that were difficult to trace.

After the a teacher confiscated a phone the girl was using, investigators found text messages on the phone that Johnson sent in November 2012 telling her "he could not live without her" and providing instructions on how to avoid detection. Investigators said that Johnson also texted her that he had deleted naked photographs of her.

"It killed me to lose your pics … I spend so much time looking at them," Johnson wrote, with a 'sad face' emoticon. "when THINGS CALM DOWN U CAN SEND MORE."

The girl eventually told investigators that Johnson had sex with her in a locked restroom inside the locked karate studio in February 2011, when she was 12.

Johnson's lawyer, Alex Arreaza, said he doesn't believe that prosecutors have evidence to prove the allegations, stating, "When a child is allegedly the victim, emotion is going to be high … the question is going to be whether he broke the law."

[Photo: Broward Sheriff's office]