A state appellate court has rejected an appeal filed by a former Tioga County dance instructor. The defense had claimed that new evidence had been found but the higher court didn’t see it that way. The appeal was denied in a 12-page decision. Following a jury trial, 43-year-old Julie Werkheiser was found guilty of two counts of predatory sexual assault against a child stemming from the sexual abuse at the dance studio where she was an instructor in the Village of Waverly. Werkheiser is serving an 11 year to life sentence at the Albion Correction Facility. Her earliest parole hearing will be in 2026.
– Michael Baldwin
