Another rotten apple has bee unearthed. A Winnipeg firefighter and jiu-jitsu studio owner has been arrested after 3 girls aged 12-18 accused him of incidents of sexual abuse spanning the past 16 years as CBC.ca reports.

The accused is Manuel Ruiz, 52, and he’s facing many charges including sexual assault of a child, forcible confinement and more.

There are more potential victims according to police:

“With his position in martial arts, as well as being a public authority, it is very possible that he had access to more than just these three victims,” said police spokesperson Const. Tammy Skrabek.

“Some of these victims were brought back to the club. Some of them were offered things like free lessons,” she said.

“So in that respect, it’s believed there may be others who were enticed or offered or lured by him with those two abuses of authority.”

She said all of the girls were ages 12 to 18 when the abuse occurred and it can be difficult at that age to come forward to police.

“Sometimes as time passes, victims change their way of thinking. The embarrassment factor is less and the need to share their story and potentially help other victims becomes more important to them,” she said.

Website of the academy he taught at is offline citing “updates” but due to internet savy we’ve located past versions of the site:

Ruiz is listed as an instructor on other Winnipeg martial arts schools websites, including Ronin Ryu martial arts school on Portage Avenue. Its website said Ruiz has been a firefighter in Winnipeg since 1993 and that he has “provided training and guidance to many security companies around Manitoba and abroad.”

Ruiz taught Japanese Jiu Jitsu and held rank of brown belt in Brazilian jiu -jitsu according to his academies website: ”

• “Brown belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under Joao Vasconcellos and Glen Flamand”

Flamand was the main bjj instructor at the academy, under Rickson Gracie according to website.

The school’s website said Ruiz has been a firefighter for 24 years and holds a fourth-degree black belt in Bissett combat jiu-jitsu, a second-degree black belt in Sanuces Ryu jiu-jitsu, a black belt in Tai jitsu and H2H tactics, a third-degree black belt in arnis and sikaran, a black sash in kung fu, and a brown belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu.

Ruiz also trained Winnipeg police officers in fighting tactics, operated the air force combat gym at 17 Wing for four years, trained band constables for a decade and provided bodyguard services for several dignitaries from 1995 to 2005.

The website also says Ruiz operated a gym at Canadian Forces Base 17 Wing in Winnipeg and it says he “provided bodyguard services to numerous dignitaries” for 10 years between 1995 and 2005.