Broadway Choreographer, Dance Teacher Charged With Sexual Abuse Of Teen Student
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A Broadway choreographer was arrested on accusations he molested a teenager police say came to his home for dance lessons.
53-year-old David Marquez is charged with forcible touching and sex abuse of a 16-year-old boy. He was tight-lipped as he was lead out of the station house for the NYPD's Special Victim's Division on E. 123rd Street.
Investigators say the well known choreographer and dance teacher, who has several Broadway credits to his name and leads packed classes at Broadway Dance Center on W. 45th Street, abused the teen inside his top floor apartment in a building on Fort Washington Avenue in mid-August 2017.
The victim reported the incident to police seven months later.
Next door neighbor Maria Noe says she would see Marquez working out dance routines in the building's common areas.
"Dancing in the lobby and dance very well he would be practicing rehearsing in the lobby by himself only by himself," Noe said.
An unidentified man opened the apartment door to confirm the address for Marquez before abruptly ending the interview. Some of his colleagues at Broadway Dance Center describe his classes as very popular, but they also say BDC has a large faculty and they do not know much about his personal life.
An online biography says Marquez was a performer in a Broadway production of Kiss of the Spider Woman, and choreographed a handful of Broadway shows. He also often traveled to work on shows and music videos.
"A lot of people liked his class," dancer Juliana Elliott said.
Elliot says she believes a dancer's life can put a young person at risk.
"I don't think it's uncommon for people to have dance studios in their home and then they would be going to someone's house," she said. "I think it's really important somehow it's regulated and be careful where were sending kids to learn dance from."
CBS2 reached out by phone and email to the BDC for comment, but has yet to hear back.
