'So You Think You Can Dance' choreographer charged with sexual assault [updated]

LA Times ^ | 8/18/09 | Andrew Blankstein

[NormsRevenge]

A salsa dance instructor and choreographer on the Fox television show "So You Think You Can Dance" was arrested this morning on a felony warrant charging him with sexually assaulting four women.

Alex Da Silva, 41, was arrested at his North Hollywood home by Los Angeles police.

The charges include four counts of forcible rape, two counts of assault with intent to commit rape and two counts of sexual penetration by a foreign object, said Jane Robison, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney's office.

Da Silva is being held on $6.2 million bail, she said.

The alleged assaults took place between August 2002 and March 2009 and involved four victims, Robison said. The victims were either dancers or aspiring dancers who met Da Silva at his dance classes.

Da Silva is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday.

[Update, 11:45 p.m

Da Silva initially was arrested in April during a class he was teaching at the EDGE Performing Arts Center in Hollywood.

The choreographer was briefly jailed but released after the L.A. County district attorney's office declined to file charges and asked detectives to resubmit the case with additional evidence.

Los Angeles police investigators alleged that Da Silva raped four female students using various ruses to get them into his bedroom, such as wanting to show them new clothes or asking for help fixing his computer.

At the time of his original arrest, Silva's attorney Harland Braun told The Times, the case was a misunderstanding of “the difference between seduction and rape.” On Tuesday, Braun had no immediate comment on the search warrant and was critical of the bail amount.

[VisualizeSmallerGovernment]

I find it hard to believe that a professional dance choreographer was interested in having sex with women.

[Gritty-Kitty]

He won’t feel like welcoming these judges.

[rednesss]

"Da Silva is being held on $6.2 million bail, she said."

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Well I guess that old piece of parchment is outdated. The 8th amendment is so yesterday.

[ReneeLynn]

Excessive? Would you think so if one of these women was your mom or daughter?

[rednesss]

Would you think so if this turns out to be another Duke Lacrosse/Nifong situation?? $6.2 million is excessive.

[ReneeLynn]

Wouldn’t make a difference, IF these were false accusations. He’ll get his day in court regardless of bail. Right?

But unlike that case we have more than one accuser. And I’m guessing he might be a flight risk.

[rednesss]

Meanwhile he'll sit in jail for 2 1/2 years, 2 1/2 years that he'll never be able to get back if he is exonerated, before he gets his day in court. He will have lost his job, every penny he ever had, his house, his belongings, etc.... so your piety about his getting his day in court won't mean as much then, since by then his life will be in shambles. $6.2 million is excessive, unconstitutional, and will be reduced, bet on it.

[ReneeLynn]

I’m betting he’s guilty. Four women? I don’t give a rats if it gets reduced. It’s likely since we treat these cases with such disregard that sex offenders are out living in neighborhoods. It’s time we slap some serious bail on.

I think if you’re proven guilty of rape or molestation that that should be a death sentence.

[rednesss]

Yeah because women never lie. We come back around to the Duke Lacrosse case and the Nifongs of the world. If those 3 boys didn't come from well-heeled parents, and they couldn't have afforded top-notch lawyers, they would have been railroaded into a conviction and Nifong wouldn't have been exposed as the lying scumbag that he was. But you as a woman are just fine with trying to claw the power of life and death over men from the courts, since a mere accusation from your lips could send a man to jail, or in your world, the death chamber, without any other evidence than your say-so. No thank you Tawana Brawley. What would be your response if we had the same culture as Pakistan, where a man's word could get you stoned to death?? Sounds like fun huh???

I also think you wouldn't like the consequences of making those a death penalty offense. You would see the number of live rape victims decrease dramatically, same penalty, why leave a breathing witness around.

The justice system would be better off leaving your emotions at the curb, and sticking to facts in evidence.