A longtime karate instructor with the Kickstart Kids program is facing felony charges of sexually assaulting a female student at Fort Bend Independent School District and possessing a large quantity of child sexual abuse material.
Dona Devon Pettway, 48, was arrested August 16 by Fort Bend ISD police. The district had contracted with Pettway to teach karate to students at Quail Valley Middle School.
Pettway was charged with sexual assault of a child, a second-degree felony punishable by two to 20 years in prison, and possession of more than 50 images of child pornography, a first-degree felony punishable by up to life in prison.
According to Pettway’s website, he joined Chuck Norris’ Kickstart program to teach kids martial arts in 2006.
Kickstart stated that Pettway was fired in June after allegations of an inappropriate relationship with a student became known by Fort Bend ISD.
A district official also stated in June that a “contracted employee” had been accused of “inappropriate conduct” with a student but did not identify the employee or the campus involved.
Today, district spokeswoman Sherry Williams told Texas Scorecard, “The district was made aware of an allegation of inappropriate conduct by a contracted employee with a student. The contracted employee was released from the district at that time (June 2024) and will not be returning to any FBISD campus.”
A day after Pettway’s arrest, a parent told local online news source Grizzy’s Hood News, “Not one word has been said about my child’s karate teacher to any of the parents. No email, no publication. Why hasn’t anyone notified parents about this?”
Williams responded today that parents of children in Pettway’s program have been notified.
Pettway’s bond was originally set at $500,000—$250,000 for each charge. However, a judge reduced the bond amount to $100,000 for each charge.
Pettway posted bond on August 21 and agreed to other conditions including surrendering his passport.
He is scheduled to be arraigned on September 30 in a Fort Bend County district court.
School officials asked anyone with information regarding inappropriate conduct to contact Fort Bend ISD police at 281-634-5500.
Dozens of Texas educators have been accused of sex crimes involving students and other children.
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