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January 27, 2012
Dance instructor gets two years in prison, probation, for sexual assaults
A Travis County jury today sentenced former Austin hip-hop dance instructor Stacey Aldridge to two years in prison and six years of probation for sexually assaulting two teenagers after a night out in 2010.
State District Judge Mike Lynch reset the case until Monday, when he will announce whether Aldridge, at right, must serve the sentences concurrently or consecutively, and when Lynch will set the terms of that probation.
Aldridge has been in jail since his November 2010 arrest. He remains charged with one count of sexual assault in a separate case.
Aldridge has taught dance for years at several places in the Austin area, including at the Dance Zone, a school near the University of Texas.
He was convicted Thursday of two counts of sexual assault, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Aldridge’s defense lawyers argued that the testimony of the two girls, who were 17 at the time, was unreliable and fraught with lies.
“An older man going out with women who were his students, that’s not a crime,” defense lawyer David Frank said during closing arguments of the guilt/innocence phase of the trial.
Prosecutors said that Aldridge had taught one of the girls years earlier before reconnecting with her on Facebook when she was 16. On April 4, 2010, Aldridge got the teens into a downtown nightclub and then provided them drinks before taking them back to his apartment, said prosecutor Mark Pryor.
One of them was drunk and throwing up on the sofa in his living room when Aldridge sexually assaulted her twice, Pryor said. Then he went into the bedroom and assaulted the other girl, Pryor said.
A separate Travis County jury in October found Aldridge not guilty of sexual assault in a different incident. In that case, one of his former students testified that he sexually assaulted her at his Northwest Austin apartment after a night out in 2006.
The remaining count accuses Aldridge of sexually assaulting a woman in his dance studio. That woman testified at this week’s trial but the jury was instructed only to consider the testimony for a limited purpose, including to rebut Aldridge’s claims that the girls had made the accusations up.
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January 26, 2012
Dance instructor guilty on two counts of sexual assault
Update 4:27 p.m.: A Travis County jury has found former dance instructor Stacey Aldridge guilty of two out of the three counts of sexual assault, according to prosecutor Mark Pryor. The sentencing portion of the trial was scheduled to begin this afternoon.
Earlier: A Travis County jury this morning began deliberating allegations that former Austin hip hop dance instructor Stacey Aldridge sexually assaulted two teenagers, including one former student, in 2010.
Aldridge, 44, is charged with three counts of sexual assault related to allegations he inappropriately touched the girls, both 17, after taking them out to a downtown club on April 4, 2010. Each count is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
“The defendant befriended, he manipulated, he groomed and then he incapacitated these teenagers, and then he assaulted them,” prosecutor Mark Pryor said during closing arguments in state District Judge Mike Lynch’s court.
“You may not like their actions, you may not approve of how they comported themselves that night,” Pryor said, “But you know what? They were just playing grownup. The problem is they didn’t know who they were playing with.”
Defense lawyer David Frank argued to the jury that the testimony of the two teenagers - and a third woman who also testified she was sexually assaulted by Aldridge - are unreliable and fraught with lies. He also noted that the women did not disclose the alleged assaults to authorities for months.
Aldridge is not on trial for any charges related to the allegations by the third woman but Lynch allowed the testimony for limited purposes, including to rebut a defense of fabrication.
Frank said Aldridge is innocent of the charges.
“An older man going out with women who were his students, that’s not a crime,” he said. “If you don’t like the fact that the women are 17, that’s still not a crime. Not under the law.”
Aldridge, who has been jailed since his November 2010 arrest, had worked as a dance instructor for years at several locations around Austin, including at the Dance Zone, a school near the University of Texas. He has also been an instructor for UT’s informal classes.
A separate Travis County jury in October found Aldridge not guilty of sexual assault related to accusations by one of his former students, who testified that he sexually assaulted her at his Northwest Austin apartment after a night out in 2006.
Prosecutor Mark Pryor said after court adjourned today that the two alleged victims in the current case came forward after hearing about Aldridge’s 2010 arrest through news accounts. Pryor said that Aldridge had taught dance to one of the girls years earlier before re-initiating a relationship with her on Facebook when she was 16.
On April 4, 2010, Aldridge got the teens into a downtown nightclub because he knew the bouncers and then provided them drinks before taking them back to his apartment, Pryor said.
One of them was drunk and throwing up on the sofa in his living room when Aldridge sexually assaulted her twice, Pryor said. Then he went into the bedroom and assaulted the other girl, he said.
Prosecutor Andrea Austin told jurors that Aldridge, who she said looks young, lied to the teens about his age, saying he was 25.
“This is a whole system,” she said, “a system of control, a system of manipulation.”
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October 26, 2011
Dance instructor acquitted of sexual assault charge
A Travis County jury on Wednesday acquitted Austin hip hop instructor Stacey Aldridge of one count of sexual assault, but Aldridge remains in jail on three additional sexual assault charges.
The not guilty verdict came after a trial this week in state District Judge Mike Lynch’s court. One of Aldridge’s former students testified that he sexually assaulted her at his Northwest Austin apartment after a night out in 2006, said defense lawyer David Frank. The woman was 22 at the time.
Aldridge, 43, was an instructor at the Dance Zone, a school near the University of Texas. He has also been an instructor for UT’s informal classes.
Assistant District Attorney Mark Pryor said prosecutors plan to try Aldridge in the three remaining cases. Those charges stem from allegations that Aldridge assaulted one woman at the dance studio where he worked and assaulted two 17-year-old girls at a club after buying them drinks, according to court documents.
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May 12, 2010
LA cop gets probation for assault in Travis County, avoids stiffer charge
A Los Angeles Police Department officer who had been accused in Travis County of attempting to sexually assault a motel worker in April 2009 pleaded guilty today to a reduced charge of assault, a misdemeanor, and was sentenced to two years probation.
With the plea, Silvio Sam Filipovich, 44, agreed to surrender his peace officer’s license and not to re-apply to be a law enforcement officer anywhere in the country while on probation. Prosecutor Mark Pryor said that the conviction would preclude Filipovich, a 22-year Los Angeles officer, from ever again working as a law enforcement officer.
According to an affidavit filed with his arrest, Filipovich checked into the Mountain Star Lodge Motel with his wife and 3-month-old child on April 3, 2009. The motel is on Ranch Road 620 just north of Texas 71 in western Travis County. Pryor said that Filipovich had purchased property in the area.
The affidavit said that shortly after they checked in, Filipovich returned to the front desk and asked the clerk for a crib for his child. The woman told authorities that when she got to a storage closet, Filipovich pushed up against her back so that she could feel his penis and soon after put his hands under her shirt and underwear, the affidavit said.
The woman escaped after pushing Filipovich’s hands away, the affidavit said.
In court, Filipovich admitted to causing injury to the woman by pushing her with his hand.
Because of the nature of her allegations, the woman is not being identified by the Austin American-Statesman.
Prosecutor Mark Pryor said the plea bargain was reached in part because “we did not want to traumatize the victim anymore.”
“We definitely believe he was responsible for that (attempted sexual assault),” Pryor said. “We weren’t convinced we were going to be able to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Pryor said the “deal was reached in full consultation with the victim.” Both Filipovich, who has been free on bail since shortly after his arrest, and his lawyer, Matthew Dorsen, declined to comment as they exited state District Judge Mike Lynch’s court. The original charge against Filipovich is a third-degree felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
The Los Angeles Times reported after Filipovich’s arrest last year that records show he has a history of misconduct allegations.
Among the alleged offenses against Filipovich detailed in the records, which date to 1995, was that he tried to improperly convert an on-duty contact into a social relationship, made a discourteous remark and was discourteous during traffic stops, the newspaper reported. Los Angeles Police Department officials alleged in one case that while off duty Filipovich inappropriately exposed [his] penis in a public place,” the newspaper reported citing the records.
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