how SAG protects pedophiles

Crucial law to stop molestation of child actors ignored in Hollywood

For years, Bob Villard operated as a well-connected talent manager in the heart of Hollywood, representing young actors on the brink of stardom such as Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire.

Boldly covering up his real intentions, Villard boasted of helping child actors achieve their dreams of fame and fortune.

But behind that Machiavellian mask was a dark yet open secret, which Villard was able to successfully dodge for almost 20 years - until he was arrested.

In 2005, Villard was sentenced to eight years' prison after pleading no contest to the felony charge of committing a lewd act on a 13-year-old boy. Villard's victim had hired him as an acting coach.

Remarkably, despite his long history of sexual crimes involving children, for almost two decades Villard had been able to work closely with minors in Hollywood.

Villard's first brush with the law came in 1987, when he was arrested in New Jersey on charges of transporting child pornography.

Initially convicted, Villard appealed and watched the case fall over after prosecutors were unable to produce the images at trial.
Fourteen years later, in 2001, Villard was sentenced to three years' probation after police raided his home and discovered thousands of photographs of boys in skimpy bathing suits.

Villard's despicable acts had been public knowledge since 1987 - yet his criminal record had not stopped him working with children in Hollywood as a manager, acting coach, publicist and photographer.

Countless child actors were photographed by Villard - supposedly headshots and promotional imagery for their portfolios.

Instead, Villard was found to be manoeuvring his innocent clients into suggestive and provocatively posed photographs which he would then secretly sell to other men on the web.

The actions of Villard were laid bare in An Open Secret, an explosive 2015 documentary billed as "the film Hollywood doesn't want you to see".
An Open Secret detailed a pedophile ring in Hollywood where directors, managers, agents and publicists systematically groomed child actors.

Lavish parties were thrown in Hollywood mansions, where powerful industry men would have sex with young teen boys who had been plied with an assortment of designer drugs and alcohol.

Gabe Hoffman, An Open Secret producer, believes it is "very likely" sex offenders like Villard remain freely lurking inside the Hollywood movie industry, abusing vulnerable child actors.

Marty Weiss managed young actors, helping them them find roles on TV shows like Nickelodeon’s iCarly and Disney’s Good Luck Charlie.

An exclusive Deadline investigation last month revealed how a key California law, AB 1660, created to protect child actors from sex predators, had been largely ignored since its roll out three years ago, in 2015.

Californian law AB 1660 means anyone working with child actors, such as managers, coaches, publicists and photographers, must be fingerprinted and pass an FBI background check to obtain a Child Performer Services Permit.

However, Deadline found "not a single Hollywood publicist who represents child actors has obtained a permit. Dozens of managers, acting coaches and photographers who work with child stars have also failed to comply with the law ... and yet, no one has ever been charged with breaking it".
Speaking with nine.com.au, New York-based Hoffman was heavily critical of key Hollywood industry organisations, such as SAG-AFTRA, the largest union in the entertainment world, for not enforcing the law.

"It is astonishing, but it is typical Hollywood," Hoffman said.
Hoffman said he was shocked "an entire industry and all of its large institutions would do nothing to comply with the very basic law that exists to protect children in Hollywood from convicted child molesters".

"It is very likely that Hollywood's overall failure, complete failure, to comply with this basic law has resulted in children being molested by convicted child molesters."

Without FBI identity checks, predators such as Villard can simply change their name and continue to work with child actors.

Among others, Hoffman's documentary, An Open Secret, exposed Martin Weiss, a long-time child actor talent manager who carefully groomed and abused his victims.

Weiss, who in 2014 pleaded no contest to two charges of oral copulation with a child under the age of fourteen, also used fake names to help cover his tracks and offending.

Allegations of sexual abuse of children have long leaked out of Hollywood.
After his death in 2010, it was revealed 1980s' teen heartthrob Corey Haim was sexually abused as a child star.

Haim's friend, Corey Feldman, has consistently claimed pedophile rings operate in Hollywood, preying on impressionable young boys and girls.

In his 2014 book Coreyography, Feldman wrote about being drugged and molested by a man.

Bryan Singer: Four New Men Accuse the Director of Sexual Misconduct Against Underage Boys

The Atlantic has published a bombshell report in which four new Bryan Singer accusers share their stories.

Bryan Singer Accused of Molesting and Raping Underage Boys

In a bombshell report published by The Atlantic, four new men accuse director Bryan Singer of sexual misconduct. The accusations range from molestation to rape, and each accuser says his encounter with Singer occurred in the 1990s when they were underage boys.

The report was written by Esquire write-at-large Alex French and Esquire editor-at-large Maximilian Potter, who spent 12 months investigating lawsuits and allegations against Singer and spoke with more than 50 sources.

Victor Valdovinos told The Atlantic he was 13 years old when Singer molested him.

Valdovinos was an extra on the set of Singer’s movie “Apt Pupil,” which filmed in the spring of 1997. Valdovinos is not the first person to accuse Singer of misconduct on the “Apt Pupil” set. In April 1998, parents of a 14-year-old extra named Devin St. Albin sued the movie’s producers and Singer for allegedly filming their son and other minors naked for a shower scene without permission. The suits were dismissed for insufficient evidence.

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Three other new accusers decided not to be named in The Atlantic report. One man, using the pseudonym Ben, says he met Singer in the late 1990s at a pool party at Singer’s house, and he alleges the director seduced him when he was 17 or 18 years old.

“He would stick his hands down your pants without consent,” Ben said. “He was predatory in that he would ply people with alcohol and drugs and then have sex with him.”

A man going by the name Eric told the reporters he was 17 when Singer had sex with him at the director’s house in 1997.

Eric alleges Singer had a network of friends who brought him boys. According to Eric, “If you weren’t young and cute enough to be their boy, you could still ingratiate yourself by bringing boys to them.”

The final new accusation, made by a man going by the name Andy, alleges Singer had sex with him at a Beverly Hills mansion in 1997 when the boy was 15 years old.

Eric says Singer was fully aware of his age and that they discussed what grade he was in at the time. According to the report, Singer would have been 31 years old at the time.

“There’s a bunch of us,” one man who says he was abused by Singer said. “It’s like, ‘You were one of Singer’s boys? Me too.’”

The journalists also spoke to Cesar Sanchez-Guzman, who filed a lawsuit against Singer in 2017 claiming the director raped him in 2003 when he was 17. Sanchez-Guzman said Singer ordered him to remain quiet about the incident, telling him, “Nobody is going to believe you.”

The Atlantic report was originally going to be published by Esquire, and Singer released a statement in October 2018 to deny the accusations set to be made in the report. The Atlantic posted no social media after the article’s publication that it obtained the story after Hearst executives killed it at Esquire for reasons not provided.

“I have known for some time that Esquire magazine may publish a negative article about me,” Singer wrote at the time. “They have contacted my friends, colleagues, and people I don’t even know. In today’s’ climate where people’s careers are being harmed by mere accusations, what Esquire is attempting to do is a reckless disregard for the truth, making assumptions that are fictional and irresponsible.”

The new allegations against Singer arrive just a day after “Bohemian Rhapsody” received five Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor.

Singer is credited as the director of the movie, although he was fired several weeks before the end of production and replaced by Dexter Fletcher.