TV "Dance" Choreographer Sentenced in Rape Case
"So You Think You Can Dance" choreographer Alex Da Silva is sentenced to 10 years in prison in sex assaults
Alex Da Silva, in an orange jumpsuit, during his sentencing hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court on Jan. 27, 2012.
Saying he “does not respect women,” a Los Angeles Superior Court judge on Friday sentenced a “So You Think You Can Dance” TV show choreographer to 10 years in prison for raping a woman and assaulting another, officials said.
Superior Court Judge Kathleen Kennedy ordered Alex Da Silva, 43, a TV personality, salsa dancer and choreographer, to the prison term and to register as a sex offender for life.
A jury convicted Da Silva in September 2011 of raping a 22-year-old woman in August 2002. The jury also found him guilty of assault with intent to commit rape. That female victim was 25 at the time of March 2009 assault.
The jury deadlocked on four counts involving two additional female victims. Kennedy declared a mistrial on those charges.
Kennedy rejected defense motions for a new trial based on alleged juror misconduct and insufficient evidence.
Da Silva was arrested Aug. 18, 2009, at his North Hollywood home on a felony warrant charing him with sexually assaulting four female victims, ages of 20 to 26, between August 2002 and March 2009. The alleged victims were either dancers or aspiring dancers who met him through his dance instruction classes, officials said.
The TV personality appeared on the Fox TV show "So You Think You Can Dance." Born in Rio de Janeiro, Da Silva won the World Salsa Dancing Championships in 2002 and 2007. Before his arrest, he was teaching at the EDGE Performing Arts Center in Hollywood and the Mayan Club downtown.
During the trial, Deputy District Attorney Martha Carrillo called Da Silva “a rapist disguised as a popular salsa instructor.”
Da Silva’s attorney Patrick S. Smith tried to discredit the women who accused his client of rape.
“The evidence has shown that these women are not telling the truth,” Smith told jurors. “He's not the perfect guy. He's not a rapist. He's not a criminal.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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