Teen Sues Agoura Hills Jiujitsu Coach For Alleged Sexual Abuse

Warning: Graphic descriptions follow

AGOURA HILLS, CA — A teenage girl is suing a former jiujitsu trainer and owner of a facility in Agoura Hills who she alleges sexually molested her when she was one of his students.

The girl is identified only as Jane Doe in the Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit filed on her behalf by her guardian on Tuesday against 29-year- old Nicollas Welker Araujo, who owned the Overall Brazilian Jiujitsu Academy in Agoura Hills. The business also is a defendant in the suit, which seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

However, a report in the Jiu-Jitsu Times identifies the plaintiff as Stevie Knapp, who continued to practice the sport and is now a blue belt and gold medalist.

Knapp, then 13, began attending Overall Brazilian for jiujitsu training in December 2016 and Araujo often coached the girl at Cobrinha, a jiujitsu studio affiliated with the academy, according to the suit.

That same month, Araujo began grooming Knapp with the goal of "manipulating her emotions and taking advantage of her young age so that he could ultimately sexually abuse her," the suit alleges.
Araujo began online adult-level conversations with Doe and gave her extra attention, the suit states. His first improper act was a kiss he gave the girl in February 2017, and that behavior progressed to unlawful sex acts that continued until October 2018, when Knapp was 15 years old and for the first time had the mental strength to tell her family about the abuse, according to the suit.

In an Instagram post, Knapp wrote about her experience, calling the Araujo's actions "unforgivable."

View this post on Instagram

After nearly two years of battling to get my molester put away in Federal Prison it finally happened. Nicollas Welker Araujo My former Coach will serve 3 years in prison and after he will be deported back to Brazil. Nicollas sexually, mentally, and physically abused me from the time I was 13 until I was 15. I was brainwashed and tortured by him daily and it seemed impossible to escape him until finally I found the courage to leave and speak up. Today I got to make a statement in court in front of him and my family members. Swipe left to see my statement (it was too big to write here)
A post shared by @ stevie.knapp on Sep 30, 2020 at 12:08pm PDT

She said that Araujo began paying close attention to her after her parents divorced and she needed someone in which to confide. "He took advantage of my vulnerability and trust I had in him," Knapp wrote, noting that Araujo called her into the locker room and gradually began to kiss her and touch her inappropriately.

Knapp said his abuse of her, including rape, was "constant and routine," and took place every time she saw him. She also claims that Araujo insulted her when sex didn't occur, and closely monitored her social life.

"He isolated me from all old and new friends especially boys," she wrote. "If a boy even liked a post I made he would punish me for days and make me work to gain back his trust."

Araujo says that she went through an extreme depression. "I would scream, cry, and pull my hair out everyday because of the pure pain I endured due to the sexual abuse, mental abuse, and isolation," she wrote. "I will never be able to put into words the emotions I felt and the pure torture I went through for years."

Knapp's relatives eventually called law enforcement and Araujo was arrested in March 2019 and charged with felony counts that resulted in his being sentenced on Sept. 30 to three years in prison and deportation back to Brazil, according to the suit.

The suit alleges the academy "engaged in a concerted effort to hide evidence relating to childhood sexual assault, abuse and harassment perpetrated by Araujo against other minor children" before he allegedly abused the plaintiff.

"As a result of this coverup, plaintiff was sexually assaulted by Araujo," the suit states.

— City News Service and Patch staffer Michael Wittner contributed to this report.