Torris Caston, 67, director and founder of the Caston's Ballet Academie, Webster Groves, Missouri, "charged Torris Caston with second-degree statutory rape ... accused of assaulting the student ... in February 2005" Taught grades 6-11 at: McKinley Classical Leadership Academy, St. Louis Public Schools, St. Louis, Missouri Also worked at: Dance St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis Community College, St. Louis, Missouri Maryville University, St. Louis, Missouri Bing News Alert: Torris Caston was charged in late 2010, but the alleged incident happened in 2005. Police say the victim was a student at Caston's dance studio. Caston was also a long time dance teacher in the St. Louis Public School District. Continue reading... http://www.ksdk.com/story/news/crime/2014/03/31/torris-caston-dance-teacher-trial/7111461/ Tags:
Background ... KSDK: Torris Caston accused of sexually assaulting dance student (Dec 16 2010) An employee of St. Louis Public Schools and dance studio founder is accused of having sex with a 16-year-old more than five years ago. Prosecutors charged Torris Caston with second-degree statutory rape. Webster Groves police said Caston is accused of assaulting the student at Caston Ballet Studio at 27 South Old Orchard Avenue in February 2005.
Post Dispatch: St. Louis jury finds Webster Groves dance teacher guilty of statutory rape (Apr 3 2014) A jury here convicted ballet instructor Torris Caston on Thursday of statutory rape and other charges for a sexual relationship with an underage female student.The victim is one of several young women who have lodged complaints against Caston, 67, of St. Louis, the director and founder of the Caston Ballet Studio in Webster Groves. But it appears her complaint was the only one to result in felony charges. The conviction was in St. Louis Circuit Court. Caston also faces charges in St. Louis County Circuit Court relative to the same victim. ...According to prosecutors, the victim, now 25, first met Caston when she was a sixth-grader and he was a teacher at the McKinley Classical Leadership Academy, where he had been since 1987. The woman testified that Caston recruited her into his dance class there, then began giving her special treatment, such as letting her out of class and giving her coveted parts in recitals. Eventually, the woman said, she began taking free lessons at his private studio in exchange for helping out there. The woman said she became close with Caston and his wife. She testified that she and Caston first engaged in sexual activity at the couple’s home in St. Louis in 2004, when she was 15.