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New Hollywood Sex Scandal: Bryan Singer’s Accuser Files Another Suit

Website:
The Daily Beast

Date:
June 10, 2014

Michael Egan, the man alleging X-Men director Bryan Singer and three other Hollywood executives sexually abused and assaulted him as a teenager, has filed another suit alleging he suffered similar abuse at the hands of an unnamed Hollywood executive.

The executive is referred to in the suit as “the president of DEN (Digital Entertainment Network)” and was unnamed because of Californian law, said Egan’s lawyer Jeff Herman. The courts would have to authorize the release of his name, as the alleged victim of child sexual abuse has made the claims after the age of 26, Herman said.
Egan is seeking damages against “John Doe” for childhood sexual abuse (oral copulation), childhood sexual abuse (sodomy), and sexual battery. John Doe allegedly sexually assaulted Egan on more than 30 occasions beginning when Egan was 15 years old, according to the new suit, as well as threatening him, and making him sign a document saying “John Doe” had not sexually abused the young man.

The move comes after Egan last week withdrew one suit which had alleged one of the executives, former Walt Disney Television President David Neuman, had abused him in Hawaii. All the defendants so far—Singer, former NBC and WB executive Garth Ancier, Neuman, and producer Gary Goddard—have filed motions to have the suits against them dismissed.

Egan filed the latest suit in the United States District Court-Central District of California last Friday, just as it seemed the headline-grabbing story was moving in the favor of the defendants, after the withdrawal of the Hawaii part of the case against Neuman.

Herman declined to clarify who the figure was, why the suit was being filed now. It is unknown whether “John Doe” or his lawyers have been informed of the new suit.

It is unknown whether John Doe is David Neuman, who was once an executive at DEN. The Daily Beast has reached out to his lawyers for comment.

John Doe, the suit alleges, “manipulated his power, wealth, and position in the entertainment industry to sexually abuse and exploit the underage Plaintiff through the use of drugs, alcohol, threats and inducements which resulted in Plaintiff suffering catastrophic psychological and emotional injuries.”

As in the previous suits, the abuse allegedly suffered by Egan is said to have taken place on the M & C estate in Encino, California, owned by Marc Collins-Rector, then-chairman of the Digital Entertainment Network, and his then-partner Chad Shackley. Herman today would not say if the unnamed defendant in the latest suit was president of DEN at the time of the alleged abuse, or at another time.
Egan saw the men as the “ringleaders” of the culture of sexual abuse and exploitation that allegedly took place on the estate, featuring adult men and teenage boys. The men were prominent investors and “renowned in the entertainment industry,” such as the latest defendant, reads the suit.

Egan claims the men “began systematically and routinely grooming, threatening, drugging, coercing, and brainwashing” him “into a sexual abuse victim.”

The latest suit reiterates that Egan, who “dreamed and aspired to an acting career,” was “advised that those adult males controlled Hollywood and would destroy his hopes and dreams of an acting career if he was not compliant.” He was told he and his family would be “eliminated,” that their phones were already being monitored, and he himself would be “destroyed” if he ever spoke of what had occurred on the estate. Physical threats were made against Egan too.

Egan claims he was forced to consume alcohol and drugs, while drugs were also surreptitiously added to drinks he consumed.

John Doe was often present at the estate when these activities were taking place, according to the new suit. He told Egan that the men at the M & C estate parties could decide if Egan’s career ambitions could be realized.

The multiple sexual abuse by John Doe included sodomy, oral copulation, and the fondling of genitals, according to the new lawsuit. The acts took place at the M & C estate, a television show set, and John Doe’s home.

The suit relates that John Doe “made advance or partial payment of damages as an accommodation” to Egan “because of the sexual abuse he committed” on him.

These payments, allege the suit, were intended to lull Egan “into a false sense of complacency about the need to sue” John Doe for childhood sexual abuse.

In 2003 John Doe allegedly contacted Egan to say, “this is going to turn very bad as we have all the power to defeat you” and “let me help you before this destroys you and your family.”

Later, John Doe allegedly placed a form in front of Egan and said: “You are going to sign this now. I will stop all of the bad things that are about to happen to you. You need to sign this now and we will get you a nice studio job and you and your family will be okay as well as your girlfriend, and she will never know a thing.” Under “fear, threats, and duress,” Egan says he signed the form, “a false declaration denying any childhood sexual abuse” by Doe.

The suit includes a “certificate of merit” by a licensed psychologist, saying “there is a reasonable basis” to believe Egan had undergone the abuse by John Doe that he claims to have suffered, leading to later psychological injuries and alcohol abuse. Herman would not be drawn on whether he would be withdrawing any of the other suits following the withdrawal of the suit against Neuman, or what his response was to all the defendants so far filing motions to have the suits against them dismissed.