B.C. ballet school founder guilty of sex charges involving teenage student

VICTORIA — The founder of a ballet school in Greater Victoria has been found guilty of two sexual offences over his relationship with a 15-year-old student.

David Beales was originally charged with sexual interference, sexual exploitation and making sexually explicit material available to the girl, but he was found not guilty of the third charge.

His British Columbia Supreme Court trial in Victoria heard Beales operated the Maple Leaf School of Russian Ballet, first meeting the girl when she was nine, and she idolized him as she dreamt of becoming a professional dancer.

The B.C. Supreme Court decision released this week says that when the girl’s parents forbade her to return to the school, Beales suggested a scholarship arrangement in which she no longer had to pay tuition or attendance fees.

The girl told the court she became pregnant by Beales and had a miscarriage in the summer of 2020, before her Grade 11 year, and dropped out of school shortly afterwards.

In finding him guilty of the two charges, Justice Liliane Bantourakis ruled Beales was not a credible witnesses, while the girl’s testimony was reliable and the Crown’s evidence met the burden of proving the charges against the man.

The judge found Beales’ control and influence over the girl, identified as E.R. in the decision, were enhanced by her vulnerability and isolation.

The ruling says he had significant control over the teen, at least until the school closed temporarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic in November 2020, but their sexual relationship lasted until 2022.

“He was, as she described, the keeper of the information for her future career and she idolized him, thinking of him as above other people. E.R.’s dream of being a professional dancer and the role Mr. Beales played relative to that dream are significant.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 15, 2026.

The Canadian Press