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Police: At least 2 more sex abuse victims of dance studio owner

By FOX 2 Staff
Published  January 25, 2019 6:16pm EST
News
FOX 2 Detroit

CLAWSON, Mich. (FOX 2) - A Clawson dance studio owner is charged with having sex with one of his students.

Police are worried there are other victims of 59-year-old Christopher Keen, accused of having sex with a 15-year-old boy.

He is charged with two counts of criminal sexual conduct involving sexual penetration, first and second degree. Keen is the longtime owner of Kaleidoscope Studio on Crooks Road.

"It is very sad, a very disturbing case, the allegations are very serious," said 

Clawson police said it has been working on the case for nearly three years. 

"We received a referral initially from Child Protective Services in 2016 which is what sparked our investigation," said Sgt. Kellie Bauss.

Police said the teen boy, a dedicated student of Keen's, was afraid to come forward then. He has told police that Keen was sexually abusing him for two years in 2013 and 2014.

"He would use coercion with his victims that he was helping them, that he was guiding them," said Bauss.  "He absolutely knew what he was doing."

Police said that Keen would tell his victim that what he was doing would help him with his performance. Investigators say they know of two more possible victims and that there could be many more out there. 

"To our knowledge there are approximately 68 children that attend the studio on a regular basis right now," Bauss said.

Sources tell FOX 2 that the alleged abuse could span decades. A similar allegation came to light in a nearby city in 1992. 

Clawson police say the other two suspected victims are also boys and were around the same age at the time of the alleged abuse.

"We are just working with male victims at this time, but we are not sure whether there are female victims out there as well," Bauss said.

Keen's attorney is requesting privacy for both sides of this case as police are asking parents to speak with their children, reminding anyone who believes they, or someone they know, was victimized, to talk to police because they are not alone.