Dance Teacher Convicted of Abusing Two Students

A dance teacher from the West Flemish town of Izegem, who became publicly known through the VTM television programme ‘So You Think You Can Dance’, has been convicted of cyber-grooming and inciting the debauchery of two minor female students, VRT NWS reported. The court handed down a 15-month prison sentence suspended for five years, ordered the man stripped of his civil rights for five years, and barred him from any activity involving minors.

The danceresses were 15 and 16 years old when they first received messages from him; he was 25 at the time. He sent unsolicited nude images and asked them to send nude photos in return, an exchange that ultimately escalated into sexual relations.

What the Court Found

The judge framed the case around the fundamental imbalance between teacher and student. “Such acts demonstrate a lack of morality, especially given the considerable age difference and the power relationship in which the defendant, as a dance teacher, stood towards the victims,” the judge said.

The court explicitly rejected the idea that the students’ apparent willingness diminished the gravity of the offences. “Any consent on the part of the victims does not detract from the criminal nature of the acts,” the judge stated. “It is beyond dispute that the victims were in a certain position of dependency towards the defendant. They wanted his appreciation and approval.”

According to VRT NWS, the defendant repeatedly instructed his victims to be discreet, a pattern the court linked directly to his choice of communication platform. “That is also evident from the choice of Snapchat, the medium with which he usually sent the nude photos,” the judge said, noting that “the defendant was after nude and sexually explicit photos of them, and he wanted to obtain sexual acts from them.”

The ruling characterised the man as a persistent risk. “The defendant is manipulative and unreliable,” the judge concluded. “The facts and his personality point to a clouded sense of norms, poor impulse control and a disturbed sexual experience.”

Sentence and Compensation

Beyond the suspended prison term, the court deprived the man of his civil rights for five years. During that same period he may neither take part in activities with minors nor serve as a member or board member of any organisation that works with minors.

The defendant must pay 14,750 euros in compensation to the victims, plus a legal costs allowance of 4,709 euros.

Two Distinct Offences Under Belgian Law

The conviction rests on two specific offences in the Belgian Criminal Code. Cyberlokking covers the deliberate online approach of minors with sexual intent — the digital equivalent of grooming. The second charge, het opwekken van de ontucht van minderjarigen, criminalises leading or stimulating a minor into sexual acts. Crucially, this offence applies even when a minor allegedly consents, a point the court stressed in its judgment.

A Recurring Problem in Flemish Dance

The Izegem case is the latest in a series of similar convictions in Flanders involving dance teachers and sexual offences against minors, pointing to a persistent pattern rather than an isolated incident.

In June 2025, the founder and director of a dance school in Zottegem received an 18-month suspended sentence and a suspended fine for sending explicit nude images to a 15-year-old student, VRT NWS reported. Five years earlier, in January 2020, a dance teacher from Boechout near Antwerp was sentenced to five years in prison — half of it suspended — for the rape and assault of minor students and for possession of child pornography, according to VRT NWS. That defendant was also stripped of his rights and barred from working with minors for five years.

Taken together, the cases illustrate how the close, trust-based relationships inherent to dance instruction — and the dependence of young pupils on a teacher’s approval — create conditions that can be exploited by those in positions of authority.

Why the Case Drew Wider Attention

The defendant’s prior television fame on ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ gave the proceedings reach well beyond Izegem, elevating a local criminal matter into a case that has unsettled the broader dance community. Public profiles can amplify such cases, but they do not change the underlying legal principles: under Belgian law, a minor’s consent cannot legitimise sexual contact initiated by an adult in a position of authority.

What to Watch Next

The suspended nature of the sentence means the man will avoid prison provided he complies with the court’s conditions during the five-year probation period. Any breach could trigger the activation of the full 15-month term.

For Flanders’ dance sector, the recurring nature of these convictions raises questions about whether safeguarding policies, background checks and reporting mechanisms for instructors who work with minors are robust enough. Each new case adds to the pressure for stricter oversight of an industry built on intimate, long-term relationships between teachers and young students.