Hearing for UCI student accused of torture and sexual assault

postponed

Deepa Bharath

A pretrial hearing for Brian Dance, the 20-year-old UC Irvine

sophomore accused of sexually assaulting and torturing a teenager he met

on the Internet, was canceled Friday.

A new preliminary hearing date was set for March 1.

Investigators say Dance, of Newport Beach, met the victim in an

Internet chat room and arranged to meet her at the Block at Orange on

Dec. 20. Police said from there, he took her to an empty parking lot on

the UC Irvine campus and assaulted her with his belt and other objects

for more than two hours.

Dance allegedly covered the victim’s eyes with duct tape, beat her

with his fists, belt and buckle, and carved swastikas on her face with a

knife.

Dance pleaded not guilty to all charges Jan. 4.