Saturday, December 19, 2009

MTV Judge, Shane Sparks, Arrested for Child Sex Crime

ktla.com : MTV Judge, Shane Sparks, Arrested for Child Molestation.

Los Angeles - Shane Sparks, a judge on the MTV show "America's Best Dance Crew", has been arrested for alleged child molestation. Officials with the Los Angeles Police Department say they arrested 40 year old Melvin Shane Sparks in North Hollywood around 8 a.m. Friday on a felony warrant charging him with sexual assault on a child. The alleged assault took place in 1994, according to a criminal complaint.

Sparks, who was also a choreographer on "So You Think You Can Dance", has been charged with two counts of sexual intercourse with a minor, two counts of oral copulation with a minor, and lewd conduct with a child under 14, which is a felony. Sparks is said to have been at least 10 years older than the victim. He He is being held on $590,000 bail.

Sparks shot to fame as a choreographer on the 2004 movie You Got Served before joining SYTYCD.
His work on the Fox reality hit garnered him an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Choreography, after which he was tapped to be a judge on MTV's dance-themed competition, America's Best Dance Crew, which just wrapped its fourth season. Earlier this year another choreographer from "So You Think You Can Dance" was arrested. Alex Da Silva was charged with rape.

Perhaps these cases will shed a brighter light of scrutiny on the increasingly onerous sex offender registration laws in this country.