Former taekwando instructor convicted of child sexual exploitation sentenced

A former taekwondo instructor who taught in Aurora and Douglas County has been sentenced to 50 years in prison after pleading guilty to three counts of the sexual exploitation of a child.

Erik Chen, 32, was charged in July 2022 after children reported him for recording them in restrooms and changing rooms and police found CDs and DVDs with “hundreds of thousands of images of child pornography depicting girls believed to be between the ages of 8 and 12,” according to a news release from the 18th Judicial District.

Chen ran summer camps at Han Lee’s Taekwondo Academy in Aurora and Lone Tree, and victims reported him recording them at recreation centers in Castle Rock and Lone Tree.

Chen pleaded guilty in March to the three charges.

“This defendant preyed on innocent, young…