Male dancer facing rape charges after incident at Wareham party
Wareham Police have arrested a Providence exotic dancer after two women reported being sexually assaulted by the man during a house party on Tuesday, August 27.
The next day, a 21-year-old woman told police that she had been sexually assaulted by the man, who police identified as 31-year-old Patrick Ladapo, during his performance. While investigating the incident, police say they learned that a 27-year-old woman also reported being assaulted during his performance.
Ladapo, who uses the name "Damion" while he is performing, was arraigned on Thursday, August 29, in Wareham District Court. He posted his $20,000 bail at the Plymouth County Correctional Facility and was released.
According to reports filed in Wareham District Court, the 27-year-old woman was having a party at her apartment and hired Ladapo to perform.
At some point in the evening, a "raffle" was held, during which each woman wrote her initials on a dollar bill, placed it in a bowl, and some were randomly selected for "private" dances. Two woman had their dances in the living room, while two others had them in a bedroom, according to reports.
The women told police that they were sexually assaulted during their respective private dances in the bedroom, according to court documents.
When contacted by the Wareham Police Department, Ladapo provided his real name, birthday and social security number, and voluntarily came to Wareham for questioning, according to court documents.
Ladapo stated that he and the 27-year-old woman spent some time talking in the bedroom before he gave her a private dance, and he thought they'd "hit it off." Ladapo states that she was fully clothed throughout his performance, and denies having any inappropriate contact with her, according to court documents.
The 21-year-old woman told the other women at the party that Ladapo had pushed her face onto the floor and assaulted her, according to court documents. When police relayed that information to Ladapo, he denied doing anything wrong, saying, "no, that would be rape," according to reports.
In 2008, Lapado was expelled from Brown University for a similar incident in which the alleged victim declined to press charges, according to court documents.
A man named Will, who declined to provide his last name, said he is the owner of Blaze Entertainment and this is the first time in the company's 15 years in business that something like this has occurred.
"This is definitely the first time," said Will.
Will went on to say that Ladapo has worked for the company as an independent contractor for about five years.
"At this time I think it's fair to say we wouldn't use him at this time," while police are investigating, said Will.
Noting that the company has very strict policies regarding the conduct of its dancers, he said: "This is a huge shock to me."
By the night of Thursday, August 29, Ladapo's profile had been removed from the Blaze Entertainment website.
The investigation is ongoing. Police ask that anybody with further information about the incident or any similar incident call the Wareham Police Department Detective Division at 508-295-1206, or leave an anonymous tip using the Text-a-Tip program at www.warehampolice.com.