A Long Island dance instructor is facing charges for using two of his teen students for sexually explicit video calls and text messages. Pei-Sze Cheng reports.
A 30-year-old Long Island dance teacher has been arrested on child sex crimes that involve two teenage students at his school, police said Thursday.
Jordan Viscomi, an instructor at David Sanders Dance Dynamics on Sunrise Highway in Oakdale, befriended 15- and 16-year-old girls who were taking classes at the school, Suffolk County cops say. Over a period of three days in April, he allegedly engaged both of them in live video chats and texts, where sexual content was exchanged.
Viscomi was arrested Wednesday for allegedly using a child in a sexual performance in those cases. Further investigation led to more charges: six counts of the former, plus four counts each of promoting a sexual performance by a child and disseminating indecent material to minors. He is also accused of child endangerment.
The 30-year-old from Centereach pleaded not guilty to the charges during arraignment in Central Islip court Thursday. His attorney vowed to fight the charges.
"Not only is my client presumed innocent, he’s actually innocent," said defense attorney Steve Politi. "Everything that I’ve been told is he’s an exceptional young man who has never done anything wrong in his entire life...he willingly turned over all his devices to the government."
The owner of the dance school said the alleged acts did not take place at the studio, saying in statement to NBC New York "First and foremost, the safety of our students and the dance community at large is a top priority to us...When apprised of possible misconduct a few weeks ago we immediately suspended Mr. Viscomi’s employment pending further investigation. We do take matters like this very seriously."
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Viscomi is a professional dancer and has performed with many artists, including Ariana Grande.
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The judge set bail at $250,000 cash for each count, which the defense said was excessive. Viscomi is due back in court May 23.
Police believe there may be more victims. Anyone with information is asked to call 631-854-8552.
