10 years for ballet star who sexually abused his girl pupils
A FORMER Royal Ballet star wept as he was jailed for ten years yesterday for sexually abusing young dance pupils.
Stephen Beagley, who had also taught at Scottish Ballet, was one of Britain’s leading classical dancers in the 1970s and 1980s.
As well as lead roles in Swan Lake, the Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet, he had a starring role in West End musical Cats.
For a 1979 Royal Ballet gala, Freddie Mercury and Beagley performed on stage, dancing to Bohemian Rhapsody and Crazy Little Thing Called Love. Beagley lifted the Queen singer into the air for a photograph during rehearsals.
Later, he became an influential dance instructor and choreographer.
But yesterday his glittering career lay in tatters when the 62-year-old was sentenced after admitting eight sex abuse charges against three girls.
He had been due for trial at Lewes Crown Court, East Sussex. But at the last minute he admitted five counts of sexual assault, two of indecent assault and one of causing a child to engage in sexual activity.
Wearing a grey sweater and shirt and dark trousers, he wept in the dock as he was jailed.
Prosecutor Sophie Shotton said Beagley was a ‘well-known and respected’ who had taught ballet around the world.
He had worked as a dance teacher at a prep school but also offered private tuition to young girl dancers outside school. After gaining their trust he would visit their homes and help prepare them for exams and auditions.
The court was told the abuse spanned much of Beagley’s teaching career and took place during private lessons.
The first indecent assault took place on a girl aged ten. He first abused another girl between 2006-2010 when she was just nine and went on to repeatedly assault her. A third girl was assaulted on a single occasion.
In victim impact statements two of the victims told how their lives had been ‘wrecked’ by the abuse. One said: ‘I suffer from day-to-day anxiety and a lack of self confidence. The anxiety and nervousness manifested itself in digestion problems throughout my 20s and into 30s.
‘It is a daily struggle. He has affected my mental health. I seek professional advice from a therapist on a weekly basis.’
A second victim described Beagley’s actions as a ‘complete betrayal of trust’ which had left her with serious mental health problems.
She said she now suffered from depression, anxiety, had difficulty sleeping and had to leave a job because of stress.
In a statement she said: ‘As a result I was put on anti-depressants. I have needed therapy sessions for the last two years. He has left me feeling anxious. I had a really paranoid two years and cried all the time.’
Passing sentence, judge Christine Laing, QC, said Beagley was guilty of an ‘abuse of trust’. She said: ‘You should’ve known better than most the terrible effect this can have on victims.’
Beagley began dancing aged eight and joined the Royal Ballet School a year later. At 17, he joined the Royal Ballet Company and was principal dancer for 14 years, performing for the Queen’s silver jubilee in 1977.
One of the highlights of Beagley’s career was Sir Frederick Ashton’s one-act ballet Rhapsody, created to mark the Queen Mother’s 80th birthday.
In 1989, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company, starring in its record-breaking production of A Clockwork Orange and briefly appeared in Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life.
He most recently worked with the Bangkok City Ballet as artistic director.
‘A complete betrayal’