BREAKING NEWS: 'So You Think You Can Dance' Choreographer Pleads Not Guilty To Rape
June 2 2010, Published 1:15 p.m. ET
Former So You Think You Can Dance choreographer, Alex Da Silva, has pled not guilty to rape, RadarOnline.com has learned.
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The ex-salsa teacher is accused of sexually assaulting four women and is charged with eight felony counts of assault.
And Wednesday morning, he was arraigned in a Van Nuys courthouse where he defended his innocence.
“Mr. Da Silva appeared before the judge and pled not guilty to the charges,” confirmed a spokeswoman in the public information office. “He will remain in custody.”
Da Silva was arrested in August on four counts of forcible rape, two counts of assault with intent to commit rape and two counts of sexual penetration by a foreign object.
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The victims were between the ages of 20 and 26 and were all aspiring dancers taking classes with Da Silva.
The instructor, who starred on the first four seasons of the hit television dance, allegedly attacked the women between August 2002 and March 2009.
He was also accused of sexual assault in April last year, but charges were dropped through lack of evidence.
He is currently being held on $6.2 million bail.
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His pre-trial will be on June 11th and has been moved to downtown Los Angeles. Besides being on So You Think You Can Dance, Da Silva also won the World Salsa Championships in 2001 and 2007.
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