Ex-NBA Dancer’s Husband Hired Detective To Follow Her, Findings Led To Jail

Sean Brown

The husband of a former dancer for an NBA team grew suspicious of his wife after her strange behavior led to her filing for a divorce, so he hired a private investigator to follow her around and possibly figure out what was going on. However, neither the detective nor the woman’s husband were prepared for what would be discovered inside of her dance studio, and it ended up with her being thrown in jail.

CBS News reported that the now-ex-husband of Amber Telford hired the detective back in September of 2014, when Telford suddenly filed for divorce from him. The detective followed Telford for about two months, and on November 28, 2014, as he was keeping an eye on Telford’s business, Collette’s Dance Studio in Taylorsville, Utah, he made a discovery that would send Telford to jail.

Apparently, Telford had been grooming a 17-year-old male dance student for sex for some time by buying him clothes and paying for a trip to Disneyland for a dance competition. After being confronted, Telford admitted to having sex with the teen on numerous occasions at her own home, in a church parking lot, and at her studio, where the detective found the two naked under a sheet.

“She started by flirting with (the teen) and eventually began a sexual relationship with him that occurred at her home, her mother’s home, and also in a vehicle belonging to Amber,” according to a Salt Lake County Jail report obtained by Deseret News.

The 33-year-old former dancer for the Utah Jazz pleaded guilty to a single act of unlawful activity with a minor, which is a third-degree felony. As a part of the deal, which dropped six identical charges, Telford was sentenced to 30 days in jail on Thursday and will have to perform 150 hours of community service, complete probation, and register as a sex offender.

While many would say that the teen likely had the time of his life with an older woman, I say this case shows the obvious bias when it comes to the prosecution of sexual crimes against a minor. Had the situation been reversed and Telford been a man, the perpetrator would be looking at anywhere from 10-30 years behind bars for statutory rape, plus I’m sure the prosecution would have thrown the book at him for everything else possible. But because Telford’s a woman and the victim was a teen boy, she got a simple plea deal and a slap on the wrist.

Personally, I think a predator is a predator and it shouldn’t matter who the victim is. After all, it takes a certain type of sick mindset to prey on young and vulnerable victims, male or female, and even if the teen did enjoy it, that doesn’t change the fact that she took advantage of him.