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PITTSBURGH (AP) — A Pennsylvania karate instructor who was jailed after he was accused of molesting students is now charged with trying to solicit the murder of the alleged victims in the case.
Allegheny County police said Wednesday that new charges were filed against 29-year-old Michael Scherbanic.
Scherbanic was accused last year of abusing five juvenile male students of his Tang Soo Do Karate College in North Versailles (vur-SAYLZ'), just outside of Pittsburgh.
He was set to go on trial in April, but police say an investigation "uncovered an elaborate criminal plan to intimidate victims, recruit witnesses to perjure themselves and obstruct the prosecution in five criminal cases."
Court documents don't list an attorney in the new case. A message left after business hours for Scherbanic's attorney in the abuse cases wasn't immediately returned.
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