Marshals arrest former dance teacher accused of sex abuse
CLEVELAND — U.S. Marshals on Monday arrested a former Cleveland School of the Arts dance instructor accused of sexually abusing a student in 2008.
U.S. Marshal Pete Elliott said officers arrested Terence Greene about 3 p.m. in Brighton, New York, just south of Rochester.
Police and U.S. Marshals have been searching for Greene since July 23, when prosecutors charged Greene with one count of sexual battery. Greene will be extradited back to Cleveland to face the charge.
Greene was working as a dance teacher and instructor at the school in 2008 when he is accused of sexually abusing the student. He worked with children at the school, his alma mater, for 19 years.
Cleveland police sex crimes detectives are looking into several other instances where former students reported “extremely similar incidents happened to them,” according to court records.
Five former students sued Cleveland Metropolitan
School District in federal court on Friday. All five accused Greene of sexually abusing them from 2008 through 2012. One of the five was sexually abused about 20 times over two years, the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit says Greene sexually abused the five in the dancers’ dressing room at the school, his car and his homes.
Greene has a long history of sexual abuse accusations dating back to at least 2003. He was charged that year with sexually abusing a student, but a judge found him not guilty at trial. He continued working for the school district as a contractor.
At least seven students accused Greene of sexual abuse in 2014, when the school district stopped renewing his contracts, according to district records.
He went on to work for Cuyahoga County Community College in 2015 for their Dance Academy program that aimed at teaching dance to students ages 6-18.
A student in September 2019 reported to Garfield Heights police that Greene sexually abused him. The student at the time declined to press charges. Tri-C officials took steps to fire Greene, but ultimately let him resign.