A FORMER Port Stephens dance studio teacher accused of sexually and indecently assaulting five girls, including four students, will face a trial in Sydney in August, 2023.
The former teacher, now 28, was committed for trial in Newcastle Local Court in April on seven charges, including aggravated sexual assault, three counts of indecent assault and sexual intercourse with a person under his care.
Detectives say the alleged offences relate to five girls, aged between 12 and 17, and occurred between 2014 and 2019. The trial, which has an estimate of between three and five weeks, has been sent to Sydney, but the former dance is yet to be arraigned because the DPP is still awaiting approval from the Attorney General's Department to lay a charge for an offence that allegedly occurred on a cruise ship in international waters.
Investigators established Strike Force Wairakei in March last year to investigate allegations of inappropriate behaviour by a dance teacher towards a number of students at a studio at Port Stephens.
