from www.philly.com – Authorities unsealed an indictment yesterday charging a Philadelphia international attorney with traveling overseas to have sex with an underage boy.

Kenneth Schneider, 45, was arrested by Interpol in Laranca, Cyprus, on Saturday.

Schneider founded the Apogee Foundation in New York in 2004. It provides scholarships and assistance to children around the world with aptitude in fine arts. He’s also president and chief executive officer of a London-based media and technology-consulting group.

But the indictment said Schneider had a secret life and a fondness for a Russian boy.

In 1998, in Moscow, Schneider became acquainted with a husband and wife who were ballet instructors at the Moscow State Academy of Choreography and told them he would provide “assistance” to students at the academy, the indictment said.

That summer the instructors introduced Schneider to a boy, identified as R.Z., a 12-year-old who had been removed from the academy because his parents could not afford it, the indictment said.

Schneider offered to pay R.Z.’s board at the academy and later convinced his parents to let him live with Schneider at his apartment, only a few blocks from the academy, the indictment alleged.

The indictment said Schneider engaged in a sexual relationship with R.Z. beginning in fall 1998 and continuing until 2004.

Authorities said the illicit relationship began when Schneider “groomed” R.Z. for sexual contact by touching him, kissing him and buying him gifts. They said he also pressured the boy to keep the sexual relationship secret.

The relationship progressed to the point that Schneider had oral and anal sex with R.Z., according to the indictment.

In summer 2001, when R.Z. was 15, the indictment alleged, Schneider arranged for the boy to travel with him to Philadelphia to attend a summer program for ballet study at the Rock School. They returned to Moscow in August 2001 and the relationship continued, the indictment said.

from www.kyw1060.com – A Philadelphia area attorney, who formed a foundation to assist aspiring performing artists reach their goals, is now charged in a sex tourism case involving a former student at the Bolchoi Academy. The defendant, who allegedly sexually assaulted the victim for years beginning in 1998, has been arrested in Cyprus and is awaiting extradition.

The Apogee foundation’s stated goal is to discover, develop and celebrate the creative potential of mankind, but federal authorities alleged the president and founder of Apogee, Kenneth Schneider, used his wealth and position to victimize a pre-teen boy for years – starting at age 12. Federal authorities say the boy’s family could no longer afford the Bolshoi fee and Schneider offered to help. The boy would live with him. The federal complaint says the boy’s parents had serious reservations, but agreed. U-S Attorney Michael Levy:

“Anybody who is a parent knows you want the best for your children and you’ve got a child who has talent and can really do well, but you can’t afford it. And here is somebody coming forward to say your troubles are over.”

Schneider’s attorney has declined comment.