SF police say Pinole man filmed child dance group, attempted sexual contact

Police on Friday said a man who regularly filmed a child dance group based out of San Francisco’s Chinatown despite having no ties with the group, tried to contact the underage dancers to engage in sexual contact.

According to police, Pinole resident Joven Agapito, 45, has been arrested on suspicion of communicating with a minor for to engage in sexual contact, arranging a meeting with a minor for sexual contact and annoying or molesting a minor.

The dance group’s director and several parents initially reported Agapito to police after he’d been filming several of the group’s public practices and performances since 2018, despite not knowing anyone on in the group or having any other connection to it.

The videos were being uploaded to his YouTube channel, police said.

At one point this year, Agapito allegedly sent several inappropriate messages to underage members of the dance group and even indicated he wanted to a romantic relationship with one of the dancers.

SFPD’s Internet Crimes Against Children then began investigating Agapito and arrested him last month. He remains in custody on $250,000 bail, according to jail records.