Anaheim dance studio owner charged for sexually assaulting minors
A man was charged on Tuesday with sexually assaulting six minors who were taking classes at his dance studio in Anaheim.
Mark Anthony Chavarria, a 40-year-old Riverside resident and owner of the Chavarria Institute of the Arts on S. Old Springs Road, was charged with 15 counts of lewd or lascivious acts on a child younger than 14, two counts of oral copulation of an underage victim and one count of sexual penetration by foreign object of an underage victim, according to Anaheim Police Department.
All charges are felonies.
All six victims, between the ages of 12 and 14, were assaulted while taking classes at Chavarria's dance studio.
He was arrested on Tuesday and being held on $5 million bail.
Police say that Chavarria has taught at other dance studios in both Southern California and Arizona, and they are currently looking for other potential victims.
A different Anaheim-based dance studio owner, Robert Hirschl, was arrested in late 2022 for similar accusations stemming from the Hirschl School of Dance.
Anyone with additional information was asked to contact detectives at (714) 765-1969.
