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A former dance teacher who worked at a North Vancouver dance studio is on trial facing charges of alleged sexual offences against a teenage dance student about a decade ago.
Adam Gregory McKinnon, 41, of Vancouver, is accused of having a sexual relationship with one of his students over a two-year period, when the student was between 15 and 17 years old.
He faces charges of sexual interference and invitation to sexual touching of a person under 16, as well as a charge of sexual exploitation and a charge of sexual assault.
At the time, McKinnon worked as a dance instructor at the RNB Dance studio in North Vancouver, as well as leading a semi-professional dance group at Harbour Centre Dance in downtown Vancouver.
McKinnon has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
In North Vancouver provincial court this week, prosecutor Jason Krupa outlined before Judge Patricia Jantzen how the student – whose identity is protected by a publication ban – began dancing at an elite level when they were still in elementary school and first began taking dance classes from McKinnon at age 12. By the time the student was 15, they had also joined McKinnon’s semi-professional dance group at the Harbour Dance Centre. That involved taking classes later at night, and McKinnon would often drive the student home. Their relationship eventually became sexual, said Krupa, beginning when the student was under 16 and continuing to the student’s final year of high school.
In court this week, the student testified about how dancing got them “out of the house” during a troubled time in their family. McKinnon, who told students he was 22, was considered “the cool young dance teacher,” the student – now an adult – testified.
At the time, McKinnon did most of the choreography for the semi-professional gigs and chose which dancers would be featured.
The student described hanging out with McKinnon after performances. The student then recalled how McKinnon pulled over to the side of the road during a drive home one night and the two kissed.
Eventually their relationship progressed to more overt sexual activity, the student said, often in McKinnon’s car in secluded mall or park parking lots in North Vancouver, in washrooms and in movie theatres. Once the two started having sex, the student testified feeling there was little choice but to allow it to continue.
McKinnon stressed that the relationship should be kept secret, the student testified, “to keep it professional” and prevent other students from becoming jealous.
McKinnon said people “wouldn’t understand,” the student testified. “I should have seen that as a red flag at the time,” the student said.
McKinnon also bought the student a “burner phone,” so they could stay in contact without the student’s mother finding his number on the phone bill, they said.
The student made up a story for friends about dating an athlete who went to another school, and never used McKinnon’s real name.
Eventually the student was expected to have sex with McKinnon every time the two were together, they testifed. If they refused, McKinnon would become angry and accuse the student of “cheating on him,” they said. McKinnon would then punch or shove them in anger, the student said.
The student said while at first McKinnon said he was 22, that story later changed to 25. But McKinnon also had a reference to his birth year tattooed on his shoulder, the student said, leading to the realization he wasn’t that young. That was confirmed when the student saw his driver’s licence one day, they said, and realized he was in his 30s.
“It wasn’t until I was in therapy at 25, I realized it wasn’t a relationship and I wasn’t a girlfriend,” they said. “It was a predatory relationship.”
The student recalled how McKinnon became enraged after the student took part in a high school grad prank in senior year, accusing the student of having sex with another guy, then “proceeded to hit me multiple times all over my body.”
That’s when they ended the relationship, the student said.
The former student said they didn’t tell their family about the relationship with McKinnon until many years later, after going to therapy and “I realized I was sexually abused.”
That’s also when they went to police, they said.
In cross-examination, defence lawyer Tony Tso questioned the former student’s recollection of events, suggesting some of the times and locations the student said they had sex with McKinnon were unlikely.
One of the former student’s close friends and other dancers who attended the same studios were among the other witnesses testifying this week.
The trial continues later this month.
