BOSTON (AP) — Three more dancers have come forward to allege that an instructor and his wife, a former star with the Boston Ballet, sexually abused them, according to an expanded lawsuit.
Five dancers now say dance instructor Mitchell Taylor Button and his wife, former Boston Ballet principal dancer Dusty Button, “exploited their position of power and influence in the dance world to sexually abuse young dancers across the country,” The Boston Globe reported Wednesday.
The original suit, brought by two dancers including one with the Boston Ballet, named only Mitchell Button as a defendant. The expanded lawsuit filed last week in U.S. District Court in Nevada adds three new plaintiffs, including one from New Hampshire identified only as Jane Doe 100, and names Dusty Button as a defendant.
The Buttons, of Las Vegas, deny the allegations, their lawyer said.
“Our position remains the same,” Marc Randazza said via email. “We look forward to clearing both of their names in court.”
Sigrid McCawley, an attorney for the plaintiffs, called the allegations “the highest level of betrayal.”
McCawley said Jane Doe 100 met the Buttons in 2014, when she was a minor. She said they plied her with alcohol, took her to their apartment and raped her.
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