ALLEGED PERPETRATOR NAMED IN MIDOHIO CON SEXUAL ASSAULT SCANDAL

[MattBrady]

Since January, part of the comics blogosphere has been consumed with alleged sexual misconduct that occurred at last fall's Mid Ohio Con in Columbus. The incident was first brought to public attention in a December column entry ("What a Girl Wants: Well Grab My Tit and Call Me a Liar") at Buzzscope.com by Ronee Garcia Bourgeois. In the months since the initial column, individuals were suspected as both the victim and alleged assailant, while viewpoints have been passionately expressed on both sides as few true facts of the case were known.

In early April, creator Taki Soma has identified herself as the victim of the alleged assault, and Newsarama has now confirmed that Comic Book Legal Defense Fund Executive Director Charles Brownstein is the alleged perpetrator of the claimed assault. As is usually the case in this matter, there are at least two sides of the story.

In early April, through Bourgeois column, Soma recounted her version of the events, writing:

As many of you reading this, I’m sure it sounds familiar. Well here’s the rest of the story, at least from my side:

The incident happened late in the year of 2005, during pre-convention prepping and partying;

I was invited down to the pool in the hotel I was staying at by friends but I turned the invitation down per I didn’t have a bathing suit with me, but after some coaxing, it was decided that it was okay to go in my clothes – But instead of swimming, there was an attached hot tub sectioned off in the pool, where everything is wide open and we all gravitated towards the hot tub to sit and just talk about comics and movies, etc.

I was thrown into the pool area by surprise a couple of times by this one man, which made me quite unhappy and uncomfortable. This was a person I had met during a convention a little over year ago and had developed an acquaintanceship from seeing him around at all the conventions I attend. He knew everyone and introduced me to the Editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics, given me advice on my art, shared amusing tales about the industry, etc. – I thought he was definitely someone I’d want to keep within networking relations, or so I thought:

After a while, most others went up to their rooms and the remaining people were this individual, my friend Ken and myself; I excused myself and started to leave, but before I succeeded in getting out of the tub, this man grabs my shoulders from behind and started to massage me there, then slip his hands under my shirt, felt around my back and then slipped his left hand toward my left breast. He had his hand cupped on my breast when I pried him off of me. Ken, who was swimming must have noticed what was happening and came in from over the ledge. I then stated again that I am leaving and started to get out of the tub when he grabs onto my shirt with his right hand and attempted to remove it off of me. Ken grabs the man’s offending hand to try to remove it while I grabbed the shirt down to keep it on me. I kept warning the attacker to let go, don’t do this, etc.; and all 3 of us struggled for maybe 10 seconds, it was an awkward struggle because Ken and I are both trying to remove this man’s hand away without having my top ripped or slipped off of me. Ken overpowered him and got his hand off of my shirt. Ken then told me to run back to my room.

Soon afterwards, I filed a police report. (Report #051059701) ( Newsarama Note: Nearly all of the report has been redacted as no charges were filed).

This is where it gets complicated; the incident happened in Ohio, I’m in Minnesota, my witness, Ken is in Canada and the individual in question is in yet another state – these factors have made it very difficult for me to obtain legal representation or to seek legal advice. I have made countless phone calls, researched, and all I get is the run around and speculation as to what to do. Every single attorney I spoke with, civil, pro-bono, even the D.A.’s office in Ohio were unsure of how to advise me confidently – I’ve also contacted various organizations, including those who give support to sexual violence victims, artists in need of legal advice, and even their contact attorneys – and still, no solid legal advice. I felt overwhelmed and powerless… how can I not have any answers? - I’ve been told to move on, I wasn’t raped, it’s no big deal by a few… but it is a big deal, to me. I understand fully what occurred, and I’m not here to say that my experience was as horrendous as rape cases are, but I was nonetheless wronged. I also know that my incident was not an isolated case by this person, but repeated behavior that has been escalating each time. I wouldn’t forgive myself if I remained silent and just hoped it wouldn’t happen again to someone else.

I am still searching for legal advice and I’m finding tremendous support from Friends of Lulu and I would love to be involved in their mission. I don’t want another victim to ever have to face what I am facing. It is my hope that through greater awareness that people will be able to find the resources, answers, confidence and support if and when they ever need it.

-Taki Soma

“Ken” referred to in the statement by Soma is Ken Lillie-Paetz of Monkey Pharmacy Productions, with whom Soma reportedly shares a relationship, and shared one with at the time of the incident (Lillie-Paetz was reportedly "telling those who would listen that he and Soma were having an 'affair' at this past weekend's Toronto Comic-Con"). The date of the incident, according to the police report was November 26th, with the incident itself occurring at 3:00 am.

When contacted by Newsarama, Brownstein issued a statement as well, writing:

Though I'd hoped that the allegations brought against me would not have been aired in a court of public opinion, circumstances are such that I must provide my perspective. I did not come forward sooner out of respect for Taki, as I didn't want to cause her any more hurt than I already, unintentionally, had. Right now, unfortunately, there is too much poisonous speculation circling about the incident, so I feel that the record must be set straight.

What happened in Ohio started when, after a party on the evening in question, Taki invited me to accompany her and Ken Lillie-Paetz back to her hotel room. This wasn't unusual – I'd known both of them for more than a year and regarded them as friends. In her room, Taki served more drinks, and suggested we go down to the pool. In the pool, everyone was intoxicated and rowdy. At one point, very late in the evening, I was sitting in the Jacuzzi with her and Ken, and I feigned to lift up her shirt. It was a stupid, drunken prank, of which I'm ashamed. It was something I'd never done before, nor anything I'd do since. I did not, at any point, grab, fondle, or expose her breast, nor was that ever my intention.

I feel terrible for hurting Taki's feelings. The following day, and on several occasions since, I apologized to Taki for my bad behavior. I also spoke with Ken at several points over the course of the weekend, to see if we could find a way to honorably set matters right. Unfortunately my sincere apologies have all been rejected. I continue to feel genuine regret that I hurt someone I regarded as a friend, and I hoped she would accept my repeated apology, but since that's not the case, I want to end the speculation surrounding this incident, because it's not fair to the industry or to the people this was being speculated about.

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund handled the incident completely properly by taking Taki's complaint seriously, and promptly retaining a law firm specializing in such matters to conduct a thorough, impartial investigation. I participated fully with that investigation, which concluded at the end of February, a fact of which Taki was informed.

Likewise, I have not done and would not do anything to besmirch nor harm Taki's reputation or career in any manner. I'm the servant of a public trust who has never worked with Taki in any capacity, and am in no position to either offer or reject her work, nor am I in a position to otherwise influence anyone else in doing so. Nor would I, were I in such a position of influence.

I hope that with the passage of time that Taki will accept my public apology, as I am sorry both to her and to the members of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, for this indiscretion.

When contacted by Newsarama about the incident as well as proof that Brownstein was the alleged perpetrator of the attack, CBLDF President Chris Staros issued the following statement:

"Certain allegations were brought to the Fund's attention. The Board of Directors has been dealing with the issue since the day after the incident, and has taken the matter very seriously. The Board retained an outside investigator to conduct a thorough independent investigation, which has concluded. Appropriate actions have been taken based on the results of the investigation, but to protect the privacy rights of all the parties involved we cannot comment further." -- Chris Staros, President & Louise Nemschoff, Secretary, Comic Book Legal Defense Fund

Yesterday evening, The Comics Journal posted an in depth report on the matter, which noted, among other facts, that Some herself declined to press charges against Brownstein after filing a police report in November (which is consistent with what Newsarama has learned through its own investigation).

Check back later today for a detailed analysis of the statements and responses to the allegations since they were first made public.

[Poppabie]

bloody hell. I was very shocked to read this. I had been reading Ronee's column, but thankfully Im of the "dont pass judgement until we know the facts" people, so I wont be labeling Charles Brownstein as anything until the man is proven as such in a court of law.

What I can say is, I hope to God that this is just a misunderstanding. The man has done great work recently.

Im shocked, really and truly shocked.

[CylverSaber]

Whoa. Well, look, if he apologized, and those were the circumstances... I don't see this needing to be a legal matter.

[sequart]

Booze always seems to begin AND end a party.

[RichJohnston]

For Lying In The Gutters reports on this case, read the following:

April 10th

April 17th

May 1st

[SuperFobby]

"i feigned to lift up her shirt"???

who does that??

[HeX111]

ever get real drunk at a party and go up behind a female friend, grab the bottom of her shirt and flip it up like 2 inches then pull it right back down? that's about what I'd assume "feigning to lift up her shirt" would mean... at least that's what I would consider it if I had to describe the action...

[R.C. Collins]

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund handled the incident completely properly by taking Taki's complaint seriously, and promptly retaining a law firm specializing in such matters to conduct a thorough, impartial investigation. I participated fully with that investigation, which concluded at the end of February, a fact of which Taki was informed.

Is this really what the CBLDF should be doing? Do people really donate to them so they can defend their members from sexual harassment lawsuits?

Facts of the case aside, this just seem like a wrong use of this organization. This isn't what I expected my money to go toward when I gave. Maybe I just misunderstood what the fund was for, but I won’t be giving in the future. Cases like this aren’t what I want to be donating money for…

[Vyper]

Originally Posted by SuperFobby

"i feigned to lift up her shirt"???

who does that??

Drunk people. When one's drunk, everything seems so much funnier.
I'm not condoning the behavior in any way, btw.

[michaelman9]

This definately sucks all around. It would suck to be the unfortunate guy who does something (while drinking too much) only to regret it, appologise, and now ruin his reputation.

It also has to suck to feel like the victim of a sexual assault.

I really feel for both of these people and just hope that it can work out as peacefully as possible.

[RichJohnston]

Originally Posted by R.C. Collins

Is this really what the CBLDF should be doing? Do people really donate to them so they can defend their members from sexual harassment lawsuits?

Facts of the case aside, this just seem like a wrong use of this organization. This isn't what I expected my money to go toward when I gave. Maybe I just misunderstood what the fund was for, but I won’t be giving in the future. Cases like this aren’t what I want to be donating money for…

"Defend" or investigate an employee's actions? Any charity must investigate such charges, if they want to attract donations. Using an outside independent law firm is a good way of making such an investigation unbiased. Would you rather they not investigate such a claim and take appropriate action, or would you rather they fire any employee who has a charge laid against them?

[BlueThunderArmy]

Wow, that's tough. The truth, usually, is somewhere in the middle, but if what Taki says about them only meeting a couple times then Mr Brownstein was out of line, even if it might not amount to assault. Playing with your friends' clothes requires a bit closer relationship than just hanging out at a few cons.

[R.C. Collins]

Originally Posted by RichJohnston

"Defend" or investigate an employee's actions? Any charity must investigate such charges, if they want to attract donations. Using an outside independent law firm is a good way of making such an investigation unbiased. Would you rather they not investigate such a claim and take appropriate action, or would you rather they fire any employee who has a charge laid against them?

I'd rather they not be involved. If I get in trouble my company isn't going to foot the bill. If you're cool with your money going to something like this then cool. Donate away. Personaly I never thought the money I gave could be spent because some Executive Director got drunk and did some stupid things.

[Kevin T. Brown]

There are always 3 sides to the story: The victim's side, the accused side, and the truth. And the only way to get to the truth is for a reliable, unbiased witness to step forth. For now, accusations have been made, apologies of a sort have been made, and nothing else really can be done about it. Unless Ms. Soma decides to file a civil suit......

[erix138]

A "misunderstanding" doesn't require the physical efforts of a third party "ten seconds" to get some guys hands from off a girl's body.

[clemsonfn]

Originally Posted by CylverSaber

Whoa. Well, look, if he apologized, and those were the circumstances... I don't see this needing to be a legal matter.

According to her account, his hands had to be removed by force. If Ken hadn't been there, how far would it have gone?

Being drunk is NOT an excuse for assault, just like it's not an excuse for vehicular manslaughter.

[CylverSaber]

Originally Posted by clemsonfn

According to her account, his hands had to be removed by force. If Ken hadn't been there, how far would it have gone?

Being drunk is NOT an excuse for assault, just like it's not an excuse for vehicular manslaughter.

Yeah, if her account is true, it's a different thing, but based on his account it doesn't seem like a legal matter. Although, I read the Comics Journal account, and it seems weird that the police declined to go ahead with it, given that she has witness. Somebody ain't telling something.

[Jeffbot]

I'd like to hear Ken Lillie-Paetz's version of what happened.

[FatMaleGamer]

She wants solid legal advice?

If you feel you've been wronged, you need to press charges when you get the chance. I have every sympathy in the world for a woman who clearly says no, and nothing but disdain for a guy who tries to excuse himself by saying he was drunk, but when it comes to this sort of thing, you need to make a decision and stick with it.

As a side note, while I will never condone this sort of behavior, I firmly believe that no permanent damage was done, regardless of what an army of psychologists would say.

[clemsonfn]

Originally Posted by CylverSaber

Yeah, if her account is true, it's a different thing, but based on his account it doesn't seem like a legal matter. Although, I read the Comics Journal account, and it seems weird that the police declined to go ahead with it, given that she has witness. Somebody ain't telling something.

Don't forget that her account was backed-up by the other person present.

Looks like she didn't press charges at the time, which is quite understandible. One of your "friends" and someone very connected in your business just assaulted you (within the past hour)....I'm guessing she was scared, hurt, angry, and embarassed. Over a couple days or weeks, she might have made the decision to try and keep this from happening to someone else.

[clemsonfn]

Originally Posted by Jeffbot

I'd like to hear Ken Lillie-Paetz's version of what happened.

From The Comics Journal article linked above:

Lillie-Paetz told the Journal he climbed out and swam in the adjacent pool until he noticed "something weird happening" in the hot tub.

.......

Lillie-Paetz told the Journal, "He was not letting her go and I had to pull his fingers back from her shirt without losing her shirt and without breaking his fingers. I had to kind of guess at how far I could pull his fingers back without breaking them." Asked if an attempt was made to reason with Brownstein, Lillie-Paetz said, "He was totally out of it."

.........

The immediate aftermath saw Soma locked in her hotel bathroom, as Brownstein, gradually realizing the seriousness of his actions, attempted to apologize. The severely upset Soma refused to speak to Brownstein and he was walked back to his hotel room by Lillie-Paetz. No one was willing to talk about that walk on the record. All Lillie-Paetz would say was that, "He was very shocked at the extent of what he had done and very shocked that the police were called."

The incident allegedly occurred around 3 a.m. A couple of hours later, police filed a report on the matter. Lillie-Paetz said he waited "around the corner" while Soma recounted the incident to investigating officers. He expected to be questioned, but instead police left without speaking to either him or the accused. Little can be learned from the report available to the public, virtually all information having been redacted, including the victim's identity and the incident narrative. The offense comes under the category of "molesting" and is described in the report as a "sexual imposition," making it a misdmeanor. The alleged perpetrator's name doesn't appear in the report because Columbus Police elected not to make any arrests, one of the biggest initial mysteries in the case.

[talkback]

As others have stated I don't condone the man's behavior, and alchohol is no excuse. It does sound however that the alchohol is the reason for this unfortunate behavior on both parties behalfs. This man clearly crossed the line. However this woman put herself in a bad situation and decided not to end things when she should have.

After reading the column by Ronee I am astonished at the story I read from both parties. Ronee made it seem that this was a "sleep with me and I'll get you a job" situation. It sounds like a bunch of drunk, judgement impaired fools.

[CylverSaber]

Originally Posted by clemsonfn

Don't forget that her account was backed-up by the other person present.

Looks like she didn't press charges at the time, which is quite understandible. One of your "friends" and someone very connected in your business just assaulted you (within the past hour)....I'm guessing she was scared, hurt, angry, and embarassed. Over a couple days or weeks, she might have made the decision to try and keep this from happening to someone else.

But she's claiming that the police were the ones who declined to go ahead with it because of jurisdiction issues, which is something they deny. Something doesn't match up.

[kadymae]

Originally Posted by R.C. Collins

Is this really what the CBLDF should be doing? Do people really donate to them so they can defend their members from sexual harassment lawsuits?

Facts of the case aside, this just seem like a wrong use of this organization. This isn't what I expected my money to go toward when I gave. Maybe I just misunderstood what the fund was for, but I won’t be giving in the future. Cases like this aren’t what I want to be donating money for…

(Having once been involved at the perifery of a sexual harrassment allegation...)

They are not defending him in a lawsuit. A suit has not been filed yet. The CBLDF, since they do not have a dedicated HR department, retained an independent 3rd party to investigate the accusation brought up to them.

Brownstein has a full time, paid position with the CBLDF. Since the alleged event took place at a industry event where Brownstein was acting in his capcity as a CBLDF employee, once the matter was brought to the attention of the CBLDF, they were required, by law, to do their own internal investigation of the matter. They retained a 3rd party so that nobody could accuse them of doing an inhouse whitewash.

Would you rather the CBLDF broke the law?

Had they summarily fired Brownstein without an investigation, he could have grounds to sue them for wrongful termination.

Had the CBLDF conducted no investigation at all, Taki Soma could have grounds to sue them.

[EmeraldGuy32]

I'm sooo tempted to start a "who's side are you on?" thread but that's probably in bad taste. While I'm a tad dissapointed that Rama released Charles Brownstein as the alledged perp, (even when LITG wouldn't) I'm glad they did it in such a balanced manner.

Just goes to show you, don't pass judgement until you have all the facts.