A WOODLEY dance company owner who abused a 15-year-old girl and got her pregnant has been jailed for almost seven years.

Richard Still, director of Vibez Dance Ballroom and Latin School, was sentenced at Reading Crown Court on Tuesday (December 19) to four sexual offences against a child.

The 38-year-old dance champion admitted to asking a girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, to send him images that were sexual or erotic in nature in exchange for payments into her bank account.

He later uploaded the pictures on social media. The court heard he also bought her items of clothing such as lingerie before he sexually assaulted her – resulting in a pregnancy.

Still, in Louden Square, Earley, also admitted to three counts of sexual activity with a child.

Sentencing the dancer to six years and eight months imprisonment, Judge Amjad Nawaz said: “Your offending has left its mark on [her] but not just her but anybody and everybody who was connected - she has suffered psychologically."

Prosecuting the case, barrister Charles Ward-Jackson said that the offences occurred while Still was still teaching at the Crockhamwell Road studio.

“He was also a well-regarded member of the dance profession in this country and was a member of the British Dance Council,” said Mr Ward-Jackson.

He said the dance studio owner began grooming the victim in June 2022 by sending her messages which soon became sexual, including discussions about her menstrual cycle.

Soon, he suggested she dress up for him and send him sexual images which he shared on his Instagram, concerning her friends who later reported it to the police.

The court heard he would buy her lingerie and clothes and sent her money on several occasions up to £100.

He soon began sexually abusing the child on at least three occasions. He told her not to tell anyone because they would 'both get in trouble'. 

A friend of the victim later reported the incident to the police and she was referred to a sexual assault referral centre where she found out she was pregnant. 

DNA was taken from the termination which found Still was the ‘father beyond reasonable doubt’.

The court heard that Still was under stress before the offending due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on his business as well as his wife’s illness and his father’s recent diagnosis of terminal cancer.

However, his barrister Quentin Hunt said: “He does not seek, in any way, to excuse his behaviour. He does not make any excuses for himself.”

It was heard he read a victim impact statement written by the teenager and was ‘frankly horrified’.

“If he could turn the clock back he would do everything differently,” said Mr Hunt. “This was genuinely out of character for him.”

He added that Still had been the subject of ‘attacks’ since the offending including his tyres being slashed, eggs thrown at his house and BBQ sauce thrown at his door.

Judge Nawaz also made Still subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

It was confirmed that the dance studio has and will remain closed.