Director Joseph Brooks Accused of Raping Actress
It is a creepy, skeezy story. A fading, aging song writer teamed up with an out of state (female!) accomplice to lure young wanna be actresses to his New York apartment. Once there he reportedly played on their hopes of becoming famous. He tells them he can show them the path to fame and fortune. He even lets them hold his … ahem…. Oscar while he manipulated them into doing whatever he desires.
Now I know it isn’t the politically correct thing to ask but what the hell were these young women thinking when he asked them to audition for the part of a hard drinking prostitute/stripper right there in his living room? Haven’t we women evolved past believing con-men like this? Take a look at this guy – Would YOU be fooled?
Perp Walk of Joseph Brooks
A 71-year-old Academy Award-winning songwriter who the authorities said used his Oscar to dazzle aspiring actresses was arrested Tuesday on charges of raping or sexually assaulting 11 women lured to his East Side apartment from 2005 to 2008. His female assistant was charged with helping him.
The songwriter, Joseph Brooks, whose hit “You Light Up My Life” won the Oscar for best song of 1977, recruited the women, ranging in age from 18 to 30, many of them from the Pacific Northwest, with advertisements on Craigslist and a talent Web site offering movie roles, then “incapacitating them” with wine and “intimidating them” into silence, Robert M. Morgenthau, the Manhattan district attorney, said. via Director Joseph Brooks Accused of Raping Actresses – NYTimes.com.
The strangest thing to me Brooks alleged female accomplice. 42 year old Shawni Lucier lives in Washington State. She’s accused of picking out the victims, setting up all their travel arrangements and reassuring them (and their worried parents) that the trip was legitimate. Apparently Brooks liked them to come directly to his apartment from the airport where, in their fatigued state they were easier to manipulate and get drunk.
Lucier is to be charged with knowingly facilitating the rapes. Too bad that’s just a misdemeanor.
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Politicians and brilliant songwriters whats next.! After reading the story twice too bad it is just a misdemeanor.!
Throw the book at him.!
Renee
Diane,
I’m sure you know what caught my eye right away. Yes, that’s right…Craigslist. What a menace to society. Craig Newmark and Jim Buckmaster seem to be culpable in many cases these days, but, that’s just my opinion.
Joseph Brooks and Shawni Lucier, what a wonderful team? I don’t believe in blaming the victims normally, but your question is valid, whether it is politically correct or not. You have to wonder what goes through these women’s minds. There’s that saying…If something sounds too good to be true, it is. When I read the embedded source material, I was surprised by two things. One, the statute of limitations is only five years and two, Shawni Lucier for her role in facilitating these rapes only faces a year. That just seems so wrong to me.
Maybe I have no right to say this, but when a victim doesn’t come forward they bear some of the responsibility of the subsequent victims. Just my opinion. Joseph Brooks may not be in his physical prime this year, but he was OK prior to his stroke.
Sandy
Yes, I agree. when a victim doesn’t come forward – or decides not to testify – they just set up another victim as sure as anything. Sad cycle. That’s why police officers often use the “what about the next victim” question when dealing with reluctant vics. ~ DD
In response to another comment. See in context »Diane,
I’m glad the police pose that question. It is something that always makes me mad no matter what the victim’s good excuse is. I’m glad you shared that, at least I won’t be mad at the police.
Sandy
In response to another comment. See in context »