Studio City Choreographer Pleads 'No Contest' to Sex with Minors

Studio City resident Melvin Shane Sparks who choreographed the film You Got Served and was nominated for an Emmy for America's Best Dance Crew, pleaded no contest on Tuesday to a felony charge of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor under the age of 16. He wsas sentenced to 270 days in jail.

The plea arrangement halts the anticipated trial, and prosecutors dropped eight sex-related counts involving the same underage girl that she said occurred in the 1990s.

The District Attorney's office said the jail term must be completed in the next year and Judge Martin Hescovitz also ordered the choreographer to complete 52 sexual offender counseling sessions. Sparks will be on formal probation for five years and cannot be near a female minor without another adult present.

The complaint was filed against the now 42-year-old hip-hop choreographer in December 2009. The allegations say the incidents took place between July 1994 and April 1997 with a girl at least 10 years his junior who was said to be a student.

After his arrest at his home, he remained on bail. He worked for the Millennium Dance Complex based in North Hollywood, where Taye Diggs and Mia Michaels are listed as master class instructors.

Sparks worked on So You Think You Can Dance and has his own video series: Learn to Hip Hop.

City News Service contributed to this report.