Warrant: Martial arts instructor was sharing bedroom with teen

Fuquay-Varina, N.C. — A search warrant released this week indicates a former martial arts instructor accused of having sex with a teenage student, was sharing a bedroom with a 15-year-old when he was arrested last November.

According to a search warrant affidavit for cell phone records of Joseph Matthew Gailes, 31, of 3674 River Road, Fuquay-Varina, and the second girl, the girl's father told police that Gailes and his daughter did not sleep together.

He said the two took turns sleeping on the couch in the living room and did not sleep in the same bedroom.

The father also told police the two would send text messages "a lot" to one another and that Gailes had provided her with the cell phone they used to message one another.

According to the warrant affidavit, the girl told police that she and Gailes "were very open with the text messages" and admitted they "could be seen as different" but said their relationship was "just friendship."

Gailes, who taught tae-kwon-do at Vision Martial Arts in Fuquay-Varina, already faces three counts of statutory rape involving an alleged relationship with another 15-year-old girl, including a sexual encounter in a hotel room during a Durham martial arts tournament last September.