Recently uncovered emails reveal that Michael Egan, the man who brought sexual assault charges against X-Men director Bryan Singer, maintained a relationship with previous accused abuser Chad Shackley for an extended period of time after the alleged assaults occurred.
In a series of exclusive emails obtained by Buzzfeed, Egan is found to have had multiple correspondences with digital media entrepreneur Shackley from April of 1999 through April of 2000 starting at age 16. In the emails, Egan repeatedly asks Shackley when he can see him next, offers to bring around “a good looking friend” on an unspecified trip, asks for a loan, and even offers to move to Spain with him.
Buzzfeed also obtained screenshots from an IM session between Egan and another alleged victim, Alexander Burton, in which Egan discusses bringing charges against Shackley because he had “nothing to lose.”
In June of 2000, Egan, Burton, and another plaintiff filed sexual assault charges against Shackley and two other defendants in which they detailed repeated rapes during the 1999-2000 period. They ultimately won a $4.5 million judgement by default after the defendants left the United States.
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In comments made to Buzzfeed, Egan’s attorney Jeff Herman says that his client’s repeated moves to maintain the relationship are a symptom of the abuses he endured:
“The emails are consistent with compliant victims, especially those who have been abused through a period of time, who have been groomed and drugged and threatened. It’s hard for people to understand why victims keep coming back or seem willing to participate, but this is an example of the complexity of sexual assault.”
It is unclear what effect this revelation will have on the current case, which Bryan Singer moved to have dismissed as of last week. As of now there have been no comments from Singer or his attorney.
Stache99
Egan might be a d*chbag but the defendants aren’t innocent either. Wasn’t one of them on the run from multiple child abuse charges anyways?
Reminds me of the saying “When you lie with dogs sometimes you get up with fleas”.
Cam
Um…..these e-mails prove that one of the defendants was e-mailing a 16 year old talking about good looking friends and flying on a jet etc…
The kid staying in touch with him is not really the point, the point is, these e-mails are between him and a 16 year old.
Stache99
@Cam: Cam thanks for bringing out the obvious.
These d*pshits are using this to make Egan look bad but the reality is that Egan was just a child at the time. Anything that Egan said was irrelevant.
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Theonewhoismany
So not that this is a court of law, but in publishing this irrelevant information, we have officially decided we have no respect for concepts like rape-shield?
Stache99
I take the Duchbag comment back. I’ll reserve that for Shackley and his pals.
seaguy
further evidence of the real intent of the alleged victims to extort money from the accused in the form of an out of court settlement or similar, when in fact they are lying about the allegations to begin with.
Stache99
@seaguy: Who cares. Whatever punishment they get is fine by me. Prison, extortion, etc. Stay the eff away from the kids and you’ll be fine. Only sick in the head people have to worry about such things.
Cam
@seaguy:
Actually it’s further evidence that these guys were flying out 16 year old boys to have sex with.
If a girl who was having sex with her teacher at the age of 16 sues later on for money it isn’t relevant to the fact that a statutory rape occurred.
Stache99
@Cam: ..and supplying them with drugs.
Merv
As inconvenient as it might be, you can’t convict someone by the company he keeps. Singer has to have actually done something illegal himself. Knowing or attending the same parties as someone who broke the law is not enough.
james_in_cambridge
@Merv: So you’re not disturbed by the fact that all Singer does is hang out with one convicted child rapist after another? Perhaps you can’t put 2 and 2 together but most of us can.
Merv
@james_in_cambridge: Hollywood’s a small town, and gay Hollywood is even smaller. I assume everyone knows and socializes with everyone. It doesn’t mean that they’re all criminals.
LVguy
@james_in_cambridge who are these multiple convicted “child rapists” that Singer hangs out with? Out of all the initial charges, only Collins-Rector pled guilty to eight counts of child enticement. No one else was convicted of any wrong doing & Singer et al were never named. You are spreading lies and participating in character assassination.
Stache99
@LVguy: “No one else was convicted of any wrong doing”
Well, there’s the 2000 lawsuit they won against Shackley, Collins and others for sexually abusing them.
mawbinatl
@Cam: While I see your point, there are no innocent victims here. This Shackley guy needs to answer for his crime, but let us not forget, that Egan was 16 and while many think that someone of that age is innocent, they are, in fact, not.
He [Egan] had the presence of mind to ask for a loan and when jilted from a movie role, allegedly conspired to bring charges against the man.
Teenage boys can be quite manipulative when they want to be. Trust me, I have seen my son and his friends do some crazy things. Teenage girls can be even worse.
I also have to ask, what does this have to do with Bryan Singer. It appears that Egan is out for a pay day – as was stated previously.
I’m not giving Shackley a free pass or Bryan Singer if he’s guilty of a crime, but we have to look at the whole picture and the broad spectrum of the teenage psyche. And until the court as decided on this, the court of common opinion is speculative at best.
Besides, with all these stories of teachers (male and female) bedding their students (male and female), maybe they were looking for a suitable substitute for something that they were lacking in their home life or they could have just been a horny teenager.
The adults should have more of a moral compass, I agree, but as it’s been stated “the flesh is weak.”
Stache99
“The adults should have more of a moral compass, I agree, but as it’s been stated “the flesh is weak.”
I have no such weaknesses because I’m not attracted to young teens.
Teacher/student sex is rare and when it happens they’re appropriately punished. This isn’t some huge problem.
Billy Budd
Singer is clearly a victim of extortion. He is innocent. These people are after his money.
Bromancer7
@Cam: Which, depending upon the state, is completely legal.
Bromancer7
@Stache99: Which was a default judgment because the defendants didn’t show up. Doesn’t prove guilt.
Stache99
@Bromancer7: Except when they’re transporting them across state lines for the purpose of having sex with them such as Marc Rector Collins was found guilty of multiple times.
It was more then them just not showing up. They went on the run. That’s an acknowledgement of guilt.
Cam
@Bromancer7:
Not in Ca. and if you take somebody across state lines to a state with a lower age of consent to have sex with them it’s a violation of the Federal Mann act.
james_in_cambridge
@LVguy: Singer hangs out with at least a couple of sex offenders. Read this story and learn about the disturbing habits of the man you’re defending. Singer is a disgusting freak who should be in jail.
http://defamer.gawker.com/the-sad-truths-behind-the-l-a-party-scene-that-took-do-1567145397
“Singer has a history of professional and personal relationships with convicted sex offenders. One is Marc Collins-Rector, the man at the center of Michael Egan’s lawsuits, who plead guilty to luring minors across state lines in 2004. Singer and Collins-Rector worked together on the famously doomed startup Digital Entertainment Network, which imploded in 1999 after Collins-Rector was first accused of child sexual abuse; his whereabouts are currently unknown.
Another is Jason James Murphy, who served five years in prison in the 1990s after dressing up as a woman when he was 19 in order to kidnap and molest an 8-year-old. Murphy moved to Hollywood in 2005 and became a casting director, but was able to work without his history becoming public until 2011 because he dropped “Murphy” from his name in his screen credits, using only “Jason James.”
In 2007, James handled the casting for a short called Color Me Olsen, which was co-produced by Singer. The film starred two pale twins with dark hair and icy blue eyes named Gary and Edmund Entin, who are widely assumed by commenters and writers at West Hollywood gossip blogs and message boards to have been living with Singer as his boyfriends at the time.”
Persa
Teenagers are not children. Discussing a 16 year old as if he is the same mentally, emotionally and physically as a child is dishonest. Some of us closer to our teenaged years maybe just remember where our minds were and know we weren’t all innocently being lead astray by older folks without knowing what we were doing.
There are consensually married 16-year-olds with children or their own in this country. Hell, many of the adults commenting on these posts lambasting the idea that a 16 year old can be sexually active are the product of teen pregnancies. We all know folks whose mothers got married because they “had to” and they weren’t all 18 when they did it.
Obviously the age of consent in California is not 16, it is 18 but that doesn’t mean that a 16 year old in California is someone radically different than a teenager living in a state where 16 is the age of consent.
It seems to me that Egan and his associates obviously sought out the attention of older men (for the same reasons all teenagers seek out the attention of older men/women) and that was poor judgement to be expected of teenagers but the adults always have more of a responsibility to understand the ramifications of their actions and know right from wrong and adhere to social, cultural and legal behavior norms.
If an adult is having sex with an under-aged teenager or is raping and abusing ANYONE of any age, they should be dealt with legally but it should have to be proven just like with any other case.
It is possible to discuss the rape, abuse and assault of teenagers (such as it is relevant to this case) without acting as though teenagers are children unable to think or act of their own volition.
Anyone of any age can be a victim of rape and sexual assault but so far none of the allegations against Bryan Singer have been in any way proven or substantiated.
From what I’ve read, there had been no evidence that Bryan Singer is guilty of anything other than having some associates who may or may not have been guilty of crimes and the truth is that could happen to anyone.
The important thing will be learning what Bryan Singer himself is guilty of if anything and whether or not he was privy to any crimes perpetuated against others.
Other people are responsible for their OWN behavior.
And the truth is there is NOT always fire where there is smoke.
Without overt, concrete, verifiable evidence that makes it impossible for you to have committed a crime, it can be very difficult to disprove an allegation against you even if it is absolutely false. And even if you are proved innocent, you will still be linked with that crime because you were once accused with is really not fair at all.
Merv
@james_in_cambridge: Classic guilt by association.
james_in_cambridge
@Merv: Oh shut up! Who but a friggin’ perv would have child molesters as best friends and use them to round up “young men” for him? Another child molester, that’s who! You’re out of your damn mind defending this b.s.! And it’s because of people like Singer that a lot of hetero’s think we’re all perverted child molesters!
Merv
@james_in_cambridge: My best friend worked for years with a coworker who just a couple years ago was the subject of an international manhunt after he kidnapped and molested a young boy. That doesn’t make my best friend a child molester. He knew nothing about it until he saw it on the news.
james_in_cambridge
@Merv: Your friend was just his co-worker. Mr. Singer was friends with these child molesters and he had a professional relationship with them too, though mostly, it seems they were his pimps, finding young boys for him to f**k. For God’s sake, learn to read. Or do you have trouble comprehending simple sentences?
Merv
@james_in_cambridge: If by boys you mean below the age of consent, this has not been proven in Singer’s case. Singer denies it, and his accuser has been caught in a blatant lie that makes his core case entirely unsupportable. So far, there has been no good evidence of illegal activity by Singer. Being friends with someone who broke the law is not enough. There is good evidence that Singer is the victim of an attempted shakedown, that is falling apart as we speak.
Stache99
@Merv: Shackely, Goddard, and Collins molested him when he was underage. They all love young boys and it’s clear that they had him and his underage friends around. That much is clear. Singer was pals with all these molesters and everyone knows he has a strong desire for youths himself.
It’s my opinion that Singer was having sex with him at that time too. The case got messy because of them working around the statute of limitations in CA ie Hawaii.
Merv
@Stache99: It’s irrelevant whether Singer desired underage boys or not. Either he crossed the line or he didn’t. Until I see good evidence, I will assume he didn’t.
mawbinatl
@Stache99: I really understand your position. But you are delusional if you truly believe that student/teacher relationships are “rare” and/or appropriately punished. Only the ones that make the news media that get punished.
I have seen first hand how some of these “rare” relationships are handled in-house in order to avoid the besmirching of the school’s name and/or reputation. It doesn’t just happen on the college level.
As for the “flesh is weak” comment I posted; I’m not implying that you, I or anyone with a modicum of common sense and decency would fall prey to paederasty. But I will say that I have heard that excuse used in order to justify such behavior.
It’s not right. No sir. Lackey and his ilk need prison time because they are guilty for heinous crimes.
As for Bryan Singer, until he’s proven guilty, our opinions are only that. I say we reserve judgment until after the verdict comes in. He’s got questionable associations and behaviors, but the last time I looked, guilt by association is only speculation as to what the other person really is or does. If all your friends smoke crack, am I to assume that you do as well?
I have friends that are meth heads, doesn’t mean that I am guilty of the same thing. I know what’s right and wrong.
There’s always three sides to a story, one side, the other side and the truth. We may never know what really goes on at said parties. According to Egan’s lawyer, many more were supposed to come forward with the same allegations and that was over a month ago (and I know some depositions take some time) but I find it a little suspect that it’s taking this long since Bishop Eddie Long and Kevin Clash accusers came out within days of one another.
We’ll just have to wait and see. The teenagers in this case are as culpable of wrong doing as well. Extortion is against the law. Is extortion as horrendous as paederasty? No, but it’s still a crime.
And before someone says something about plying these boys with alcohol and drugs, we don’t know if they were willing participants or whether they wanted to partake or if it even happened at all.
mawbinatl
@james_in_cambridge: Does your passion lay with the crime in question or just with your apparent disdain for Bryan Singer?
Let’s let the facts come out before we hang a crime on someone.
mawbinatl
@Persa: Well said.
james_in_cambridge
@mawbinatl: How touching how y’all are just bending over backwards for a sick child f***er. This is exactly what many people, even people who are allies, think we are, a bunch of perverted child molesters (which Singer clearly is). He has not only committed a horrible moral crime but he’s helping our enemies in the religious right, who would love to wrap him around our necks and squeeze (as they’ve been doing with nambla for decades). And so many of you defend this sicko!
Merv
@james_in_cambridge: When you find some good evidence, you’re free to present it. Fortunately, our justice system is not faith-based.
mawbinatl
@james_in_cambridge: I am not bending over backwards for anyone except the wrongly accused.
Being from Illinois, I have witnessed countless number of men accused of something that they were accused of and were actually innocent. Many people who had your mindset believed that all the people on this list were guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt – http://www.law.northwestern.edu/legalclinic/wrongfulconvictions/exonerations/il/
They were innocent but guilty in the court of public opinion so they were sentenced to horrible sentences for crimes they never committed and later exonerated when the TRUTH was revealed.
Do I think Bryan Singer is a saint? No. But, while his associations and activities may be suspect, there is no legitimate hard evidence to back up what you and many others are accusing him of. Just use critical thinking and let the system run its course. He may be guilty of the crime, but we don’t have all the facts and it’s all hearsay at this point.
BTW, I would never defend an actual child molester, murderer or rapist if they had hard DNA or other evidentiary facts to support the claims of the crime. Not just because someone was ‘in the vicinity’, ‘resembles the perp’ or ‘has a history of XYZ.’
I gave Eddie Long the benefit of the doubt when he was accused by one person, but that quickly eroded when victim two, three and four came forward. (I use that example because I was in Atlanta when it all went down).
The point of this article is to point out that Egan is not as squeaky clean as he would like one to believe. He was a money seeking, manipulative teenager who, it clearly shows, had a vendetta against certain parties and planned and plotted against them.
Why Singer wasn’t named in his initial claim is questionable as well. He clearly recalled and named the other assailants. Why not Bryan Singer? Especially if he flew him back and forth from CA to HI.
Until others come forward or other hard evidence is presented, I will give Mr. Singer the benefit of the doubt. If that happens, my support will erode as it did with Bishop Eddie Long.
mawbinatl
@Stache99: And here is proof that student/teacher relationships are not all that rare…http://www.examiner.com/article/jeffrey-barton-sex-abuse-head-of-military-boarding-school-charged-with-abuse
And this is just one that we know of.
james_in_cambridge
@mawbinatl: You refuse to get it. It doesn’t matter how manipulative and calculating Egan was: he was a kid! It may very well be that he willingly let himself be abused in exchange for money or fame. It doesn’t make Singer any less guilty!
toberlin
Who are People who are allies?People who think being Gay is something natural and normal?Yes,I am a straight woman and I totally think so.And I defend my opinion in that point.
The belief that earth is a disc was followed by the recognition that it is a sphere.How many People here were ever called Galilei`s allies?
I call that irreversible knowledge…
And NO!neither I nor anyone I know think you “are a bunch of perverted child molesters”.Here in Germany the Catholic Church just has the reputation to cover child molester.The straight ones are anyway everywhere.And this generalized Accusation seems to be a very american phenomenon.And surprise,it comes out of the corner of THE PROFESSIONAL GAY CHILD DEFORMER = the religious right!Just give them a HUGE FUCK YOURSELF!
I just think that there are still too many young men who are gay who need you ALL as SUPPORT because the parents and the society often fails.
james_in_cambridge
@mawbinatl: Jesus! Did you read the story you linked to? The guy at the military school DRUGGED and anally RAPED those children when they passed out! It wasn’t a relationship…it was brutal rape! What the fuck is wrong with you?
mawbinatl
@james_in_cambridge: I did read the article and there is nothing wrong with me.
That monster deserves to have horrible things done to him and spend the rest of his life in jail. Also, not every student/teacher relationship is consensual. Like with Jerry Sandusky and Catholic priests, they use their power of authority over a younger victim or they threaten them in order to get the children to concede to their perversions.
I wasn’t using relationship as a word to define two or more consenting people who engage in a mutual agreement to be with one another.
You’re quick with the knee jerk reactions. I know it’s an emotionally charged subject, especially for those who have been molested and those who have wrongly been accused of molestation.
Also, what you fail to get is that Singer is innocent until proven, without a doubt, guilty of being the monster you make him out to be.
Egan was abused, no doubt, but was Mr. Singer one of his molesters? We do not know without any amount of certainty.
Also, 15 years after the fact when he previously accurately recalled his other assailants. For the amount of detail he has in his lawsuit against Bryan Singer, how could anyone ever forget who did that? Almost drowning him while he was performing fellatio? Being anally raped over and over again when he went on not just one or two trips to be with Bryan Singer, but numerous? It just doesn’t add up; at least for me.
I have been an advocate for women who have been abused and raped, so I have empathy for victims. And those women all have clear recollections of who was the perpetrator of their violations and could even identify people by voice if necessary.
But on the flip side, I’ve been on the other end; wrongly accused of a crime that I didn’t commit. If my alleged victim hadn’t admitted that they made the whole thing up, I would be in prison.
So Singer is not guilty of committing crimes against under aged boys until 1)he’s actually caught committing a crime, 2)other alleged victims come forward or 3) the courts find him guilty of heinous acts against someone under aged.
You can’t be judge, juror and executioner based on your feelings no matter how much you would like to be.
What you’re doing is a witch hunt because you FEEL or THINK he’s guilty of a crime.
That’s just not how the justice system works…at least here in the USA [most of the time].
It’s going to be have to be a wait and see type of scenario. Until then, just calm down and breathe.
Merv
@mawbinatl: It’s not just that Singer has no other accusers. He has no credible accusers at all at this point. Egan’s accusations were directly contradicted by sworn testimony he gave about ten years ago. Singer is fortunate that the accusations were so demonstrably false. If not, he would almost certainly have been held liable, and might have ended up in prison. It just goes to show that the burden of proof in molestation cases has totally been turned around. If the accused doesn’t *prove* his innocence, rather than being proven guilty by the accuser, he’s pretty much toast.
james_in_cambridge
@mawbinatl: Sorry that you were accused unfairly but what you did there, was use that story about the military academy and said “that teacher student relationships are not rare”. Why would you use a story of a teacher who drugged and raped underage kids as an example that consensual relationships like this happen all the time? These kids were raped and you proved my point, not yours, by linking to the Examiner story. Why don’t you just admit that either you think child rape is a-ok or you goofed in linking to a story that proves the opposite of what you’ve been saying.
mawbinatl
@james_in_cambridge: I didn’t goof nor would I ever think child rape is a-ok. How you came to that conclusion is beyond me.
When I first mentioned student/teacher relationships, I never once said consensual. The adult is supposed to have the more mature approach and directive when dealing with a minor or a teenager.
I believe Mary Kay LaTourneau used her influence on the young man who impregnated her. I’ve read stories where psychologists and psychiatrists use transference to violate a patient – all they while those patients thought they were being helped.
Relationships, as I’ve learned through the advocacy organizations I’ve volunteered for in my years, can be consensual or forced. Rape, in all it’s ugliness, is a relationship.
Webster defines relationship as a state of affairs existing between those having relations or dealings or .
So what I’m saying is completely relevant. Child rape is wrong. Female rape is wrong. Transsexual rape is wrong. Homosexual rape is wrong. ALL RAPE IS WRONG!
All I’m saying is don’t let your judgment cloud the facts or blur what is false into your rendition of the truth.
Let it play out until all the facts are known in the Singer case. As for the military boarding school case, that ship has sailed and he is sure to receive his comeuppance…which, in my opinion, is long over due.