Police say the victim was a 17-year-old girl who was employed at the Fleur-De-Lis Ballet Academy, located at the Mellwood Arts Center in Louisville. She was also a student there. According to police, the studio is owned and operated by 54-year-old Declan McAuley and 35-year-old Ariadne McAuley.

“Between August 11, 2017 and December 10, 2017, at their home in Crestwood, both Mcauleys, engaged in sexual acts with the victim,” according to Oldham County Police.

Oldham County Police’s investigation revealed that the sexual acts happened at least seven times.

Both Declan and Ariadne McAuley were arrested on Tuesday and charged with first-degree sexual abuse and first-degree engaging in an unlawful transaction with a minor. They are currently being held in the Oldham County Detention Center. They are scheduled back in court on June 20.

Police are asking any other possible victims of assault to come forward.

The Fleur-De-Lis Ballet Academy was originally listed as a vendor on the city of Louisville’s Cultural Pass, a pass that granted children free access to several of Louisville’s arts and cultural institutions. As of Wednesday afternoon, the dance academy was no longer listed on the Cultural Pass website.

Ariadne McAuley began her training under Stephanie Clemense at the Academy of Movement and Music—A Dorris Humphrey Memorial School in Oak Park, Illinois. She went on to spend her youth studying with many pre-professional schools across the country including Ballet Chicago, School of American Ballet in New York City, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Houston Ballet, and Miami City Ballet. 

During this time she had the honor of working with many teachers who had worked personally with George Balanchine—the grandfather of American Ballet, most influentially Dan Duell at Ballet Chicago. She had the opportunity to perform principal and corps roles in ballets such as Serenade, Concerto Barocco, Divertimento No. 15, Theme and Variations, Who Cares?, and Tarentella. She concluded her performing years with the Richmond Ballet where she performed in Swan Lake and Giselle. 

Following this time she fell in love with teaching and choreographing which lead to the creation of the Charlottesville Ballet in Virginia when she was 22 years old. Here she created over 15 works in two years and set the foundation for the company to grow into its 10th season.

In 2012 Ariadne relocated to Louisville, Kentucky where she had the privilege of joining the Faculty of the Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts, soon becoming Chair of its Dance Department. During her initial time at GSA the inspiration struck for the creation of Fleur-De-Lis Academy of Ballet and all of its subsequent programing, all of which exist to serve the individual students of Louisville and beyond as a home for compassionate excellence in arts education.