ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – A former dance instructor featured on “Dance Moms” could not reach an agreement on a plea deal Friday in a sexual battery case.
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Kevin Anton Cosculluela was arrested in 2021 when two students, ages 16 and 17, accused him of sexual abuse while he was a dance instructor at the Peaches Dance and Music Orlando studio on Taborfield Avenue.
During Friday’s hearing, Cosculluela’s attorney told the judge there was an agreement that his client would plead no contest to a count of solicitation to commit sexual activity with a 16 or 17-year-old and a count of unlawful use of a two-way communication device.
In exchange for the plea, the defense said prosecutors would not pursue the five other charges and agreed to a sentence of five years of sex offender probation, followed by five years of regular probation.
The state, however, said the original terms of 10 years of sex offender probation was critical in the case and the two sides could not reach an agreement.
Cosculluela’s charges followed an investigation by Winter Garden police, Orange County Sheriff’s deputies and the Department of Children and Families, which uncovered accusations of manipulation and sexual battery by two teenage girls who took lessons with Cosculluela, according to the Associated Press.
According to a police report, Cosculluela took the students to lunch often, celebrated their birthdays and connected with them over social media. He also asked the girls for nude photos and if the students didn’t do as he asked, he would yell or ignore the students for days, the report said.
After failing to reach a plea deal Friday, a new plea hearing was scheduled for Aug. 18 at 3 p.m.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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