PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The advice came to the family in droves, from lawyers and just people in general, according to Smita Ranjit.
They said Smita’s father, Shuddhodan Ranjit, a longtime Beaverton Taekwondo instructor, had one option after he was arrested last November and accused of multiple sex abuse crimes. According to Smita, people told the family not to go to trial because Shuddhodan would surely lose.
“We just kind of lost hope when they said that,” Smita said. “We knew and he knew he was wrongly accused. And he wanted to fight it and not be blamed for something he didn’t do.”
On Friday, nearly a year later — a long year at that, filled with court appearances, trials and stress — a jury ruled Shuddhodan was not guilty, acquitting him of the sex abuse charges he was facing.
Smita said her father is happy to have cleared his name.
“He’s just really relieved to get the side of his story out,” Smita said. “For the past year with the media they get the other side out…they don’t know the full story and the people that are accusing him, and that he’s actually human and he wouldn’t do something like this.”
While there were people that advised them not to go to trial, Smita said there was also a huge contingent of people supporting them.
“This whole year has been very, very hard on my family and especially my dad, but there’s been a small group of supporters supporting us … I think without their help we wouldn’t have been so strong and motivated to fight this,” she said.
That support was evident outside of the courtroom on Nov. 12, 2017, when Shuddhodan — an instructor for over 15 years — made his first court appearance. A former student and a family friend told KOIN 6 News he was shocked by the allegations.
“He’s very big in his culture, the Nepali culture, and there’s just something very strange about the whole instance and the whole case,” the friend told KOIN 6 News. “We hope all the facts will come out and people will uncover whatever all the facts are.”