So You Think You Can Rape and Get Away With It

[Trigger warning.]

So, I'm reading this article about the arrest of one of the choreographers from "So You Think You Can Dance," Alex Da Silva, who's accused of sexually assaulting four of his dance students, and this is the part where I feel the bile start to rise:

Da Silva had been accused in 2003, 2004 and 2005 of sexually assaulting three women, but for unknown reasons prosecutors declined to file charges, [Det. John Eum] said.

Then on March 28, a fourth woman accused Da Silva of luring her to his home, using a ruse to get her into his bedroom and raping her. Detectives went back to interview the previous accusers, found similar accusations of being lured to Da Silva's bedroom and sexually assaulted by him, and reopened their cases.

"These four women don't know each other at all, yet their reports read basically the same," the detective said. He noted that one of the accusers was a minor at the time of the alleged assault.

So even though this guy has been accused three times of sexual assault, including by a minor, he was not only not prosecuted for years, despite consistent stories from multiple accusers, but he was somehow able to parlay his unaffected career into a position on a popular television show which regularly brought him into intimate physical contact with young women, including minors.

I don't believe for one bloody second that Fox's vetting didn't turn up these accusations, but, even in the astonishing event it didn't, I also don't believe for one bloody second that none of the other choreographers had heard about them. One of the things they always say on that show is how small the dancing community is; it's like how all the girls at any high school know who the male teachers are who "play grab-ass" with their female students. Word gets around. Warnings get around.

It's inconceivable none of the other choreographers knew of Da Silva's reputation if he'd been officially accused three times (which means he's probably attacked a lot more women, since most rapes aren't reported). I am extremely curious whether the likelihood he's a serial rapist was made known to producers, or whether the other choreographers just closed ranks, somehow convincing themselves that all the accusations were false.

Meanwhile, the theme to Fox's popular show still plays when visiting Da Silva's website.