House arrest for yoga instructor
58-year-old accused of sexual relationship with 15-year-old.
WEST PALM BEACH — A 58-yearold Delray Beach yoga instructor accused of engaging in a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old will be on house arrest if he makes bail and cannot have contact with anyone under age 18 except his own child, a judge said Thursday. Both conditions for the release of Keith Steven Fox met with objections from his lawyer during a brief hearing at the Palm Beach County Jail. Kerri Deitsch told Judge Dina Keever-Agrama that Fox has a large following among adult yoga enthusiasts and that her order would keep the owner of the Buddha Lounge Yoga Studio in Delray Beach from earning a living.
“The house arrest (order) would make it impossible for him to earn a living from the adult members of the community who still support him through this,” Deitsch said.
Keever-Agrama noted Deitsch’s objections, but kept bail at $100,000 plus house arrest, including a GPS monitor, in the event that Fox posts bond. He was taken into custody Tuesday. The hearing was delayed a day so Deitsch could be present. It was not immediately clear Thursday morning when Fox would next appear in court.
The allegations against Fox date to June 2016, according to a city police arrest affidavit made public this week. Delray Beach officers got involved after the teen’s mother had hired a private investigator to look into Fox’s interactions with her child, concerned that the married man would pick the teen up for lessons at all times of the day.
The private investigator found that Fox was at his home alone with the teen on at least one occasion and that the two were seen smoking marijuana.
When questioned by city police, the teen described Fox as a mentor and a father figure but said inappropriate touching had occurred during yoga sessions at his home. In August, Fox submitted a DNA sample but declined to give a formal statement.
According to police, the teen was under the age of 16 at the time of the relationship. The age of sexual consent in Florida is 18. Those ages 16 and 17 can legally engage in sexual activity with someone age 23 or younger, but no one under the age of 16 can give consent under any circumstance.