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Xaviour Smith, 28, founded a private dance studio in Temple HIlls for youths ages 8 to 18.
TEMPLE HILLS, Md. — Accused of forcing three minors to engage in sexually explicit conduct, a dance instructor who worked for Prince George’s County Public Schools appeared in federal court on Thursday.
Xaviour Smith, 28, faces five federal counts of producing child sexual abuse material. Charging documents say the dance instructor coerced three children between March and August of last year. In addition to his work at PGCPS, Smith founded a private dance studio in Temple Hills — 1101 Dance Academy, Inc. — for youths ages eight to 18.
The exact age of Smith’s potential victims and their genders were not revealed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, addressing the three victims only as “minors.”
“Smith persuaded, induced, enticed and coerced three minors to engage in sexually explicit conduct,” the U.S. Attorney statement from Thursday reads. “
Photos on 1101 Dance Academy’s Facebook page show the accused dance coach surrounded by children, and in some photos, embracing his young clients. The account lists Benjamin Stoddert Middle School in Temple Hills as the address for the dance classes.
PGCPS officials told WUSA9 they were working on a statement about the charges against Smith.
If convicted, the 28-year-old Smith faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and a maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison for each of the five counts related to sexual exploitation.
The FBI’s Baltimore Field Office handled the investigation with the help of the Prince George’s County Police Department. The investigation into Smith was part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood initiative.
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