>"Quiet One"
theclams.com> wrote in message
>news:rpejs3pfadvambmdts44epd6eid3k1pqle@4ax.com...
>Broadway actor sentenced in sex case>By SAMUEL MAULL, Associated Press Writer
>NEW YORK - A Broadway actor who played the beast in Disney's "Beauty
>and the Beast" was sentenced Friday to 60 days in jail and three
>years' probation for sexual encounters with a 15-year-old drama
>student.
>James Barbour pleaded guilty as part of a plea deal to two misdemeanor
>counts of endangering the welfare of a minor, admitting he fondled the
>student when she visited him alone backstage in his dressing room in
>June 2001, while he was starring on Broadway in "Jane Eyre."
>The 41-year-old actor also acknowledged that the teen visited him the
>next month at his Manhattan apartment, where more sexual contact
>occurred. He told Judge Micki Scherer he knew then that she was 15.
>Because the charges are misdemeanors, Barbour will not have to
>register as a sex offender.
>The actor had faced charges of criminal sex act in the third degree, a
>felony punishable by as many as four years in prison, before the deal.
>Before the sentence was imposed, the victim, now 22, told the court
>that before she reported Barbour about two years ago, she had resigned
>herself to living with the shame and guilt of the experience.
>Because of his actions, she said, "I struggled with complete lack of
>self-esteem, panic attacks, and put considerable distance between my
>family and friends for years. I had always blamed myself and felt like
>I had done something wrong."
>She said she was pleased with the sentence and hoped the punishment
>"will prevent him from even thinking of touching another child again."
>Barbour's lawyer, Ronald P. Fischetti, took biting exception to the
>woman's comments, portraying her as the sexual aggressor and saying
>her acting career had soared after she filed the complaint against his
>client.
>Fischetti said Barbour and the victim exchanged dozens of friendly e-
>mails for nearly four years after their last sexual encounter. In
>many, he said, she thanked Barbour for his mentoring and help in
>meeting people.
>Fischetti insisted that his client was no pedophile, but he conceded
>that his client, as an adult, should have sent the girl away.
>Barbour declined to speak when offered the opportunity. Fischetti's
>comments caused the girl to weep in court.
++++++++++++++
It really did not matter what his lawyer says, thinks or does really,
because it is just not OK for a 41 year old man to have sex with a 15 year
old girl.
Larry
