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Former High School Dance Teacher, 36, Accused Of Sexually Molesting Female Student

LONG BEACH (CBS) —  A former dance teacher at Palos Verdes Peninsula High School was ordered Thursday to stand trial on six felony sex-related charges involving a teenage female student.

Anthony "Tony" Angellano, 36, of Wilmington is charged with five counts of oral copulation of a person under 18 and one count of sexual penetration by a foreign object.

The criminal complaint alleges that the crimes occurred between Aug. 1, 2006, and June 30, 2007.

Police said last year that the girl was 16 or 17 at the time and that Angellano was 31. Defense attorney Harland Braun said the girl was 16 when she met Angellano.

Braun said his client also has disputed having a sexual relationship with the girl before she turned 18.

No criminal charges have been filed involving a second alleged victim who attended the school in 2000.

Angellano was arrested last November and is free on $100,000 bail.

"He's not working there anymore," Braun said of Angellano's dance teaching job at the high school in Rolling Hills Estates. "They let him go. He had no contract."

Angellano is due back in Long Beach Superior Court on Feb. 9 for arraignment.

(©2012 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)

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