MILWAUKEE, RACINE COUNTY — Gilbert Mata, the former dance instructor at Dance Arts Center in Mount Pleasant, was sentenced to three years in prison followed by two years of extended supervision after pleading guilty to one felony count of possession of child pornography.
Mata was charged in April 2023 in Milwaukee County Circuit Court after Oak Creek police found a number of images depicting child sex abuse material on Mata’s iPad. The children appeared under the age of 12, according to a story from our partners at TMJ4 News.
Parents of dance students outraged
Parents of dance students told Racine County Eye they were upset with DAC because they were not informed immediately of Mata’s arrest or immediate termination from the dance center. The school did alert parents whose children had instruction with Mata but did not share the news with every family enrolled.
Some parents found out earlier this month only after they read about it online or heard the news from another parent. One parent told TMJ4’s Jenna Rae that not communicating with all parents puts children at risk.
“I’m really sad that this is even a thing in our day in age that people would put children at risk,” Gracie Schmelter told Rae.
For Alyssa McIntosh, the lack of transparency from DAC means her daughter will no longer attend the center.
“I won’t have my daughter there,” she told Racine County Eye.
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