The Choirboy

May 26, 2005 9:09 AM

The Choirboy. Lawrence Lessig takes onto an other battle.
posted by NewBornHippy (16 comments total)

It's a good way to use the career that he's built. Bravo.
posted by OmieWise at 9:31 AM on May 26, 2005

From the article:
"Shallenberger also happened to be a chronic pedophile: Convicted over four decades on multiple charges related to child molestation, he eventually fled the country to avoid prosecution in his home state. (He died this February, at 87, in Mexico, where he was overseeing an orphanage.)"

That throwaway parenthetical is just chilling.
posted by GrammarMoses at 9:37 AM on May 26, 2005

I remember a similar story about Donald Hanson on Nightline when this all first surfaced back in 2002. Around the same time, the school sent out letters to its alumni (of which I am one, having attended many years after Hanson left) trying to control the situation.

(I find it incredibly sad that when you search for "American Boychoir" you now seem to find more about sexual abuse lawsuits than you do about upcoming performances.)
posted by kuperman at 10:07 AM on May 26, 2005

The fact of his abuse is known to almost no one: not the reporters covering the case, not the supreme-court justices. The fact of his abuse isn’t even known to Larry Lessig’s parents.

Um. Shouldn't that be past tense, as of the publication of this article?
posted by gurple at 10:10 AM on May 26, 2005

I thought that myself, gurple: "I bet they know now."
posted by GrammarMoses at 10:14 AM on May 26, 2005

Conflict of interest?
posted by banished at 10:32 AM on May 26, 2005

I read this earlier in the week and have been mulling it over ever since. The part about the director insisting he was doing it to better the choir and that all good directors do this sort of thing really just turns my stomach.

It was good to read a story like this without a bunch of drama ladled on. Lessig was able to move on, Hardwicke wasn't. What is the difference? Personality? Opportunity? I wish I knew.
posted by whatnot at 10:37 AM on May 26, 2005

Hardwicke's abuse sounded more severe than Lessig's. That probably had an effect.
posted by Anonymous at 11:30 AM on May 26, 2005

Shouldn't that be past tense, as of the publication of this article?

I thought the article touched on that at the end: "His parents inquired, What lawsuit? Lessig refused to tell them. Now he doesn’t have to—and they don’t have to ask. For better or worse, the impasse has finally been broken."

That whole aspect of the article made me a bit uncomfortable. It seemed to be intentionally unclear about whether it was revealing secrets or simply discussing things that were already public.
posted by moss at 11:56 AM on May 26, 2005

It seemed clear that Lessig was cooperating with the author; it's certainly an "authorized" article.
posted by mr_roboto at 12:05 PM on May 26, 2005

reminded me of Sleepers
posted by mr.marx at 12:11 PM on May 26, 2005

Lawrence Lessig comments on the article on his blog.
posted by ltl at 2:10 PM on May 26, 2005

I have read a couple of things by and about Lessig, not much. In his reflections on Eldred v Ashcroft, and here, he shows impressive honesty, insight and character.

Nonetheless:

What happened next is something Lessig refuses to discuss. But according to Hardwicke’s lead attorney, Keith Smith, Lessig sued the Boychoir School and received a settlement. Both the suit and the settlement are officially under seal, with a confidentiality agreement that bars either side from disclosing their existence, let alone any of the details. What Lessig can say, however, is that the school and its lawyers are aware of his abuse by Hanson. And that, in his interactions with them before the Hardwicke case, he thinks that “they behaved well.”

I find that very troubling...

Confidentiality agreements are a blight on society.
posted by Chuckles at 4:18 PM on May 26, 2005

What's strange about all this is how uneffected Lessig seems to be about the whole thing. Almost like it didn't really bother him that much. Weird.
posted by delmoi at 8:19 AM on May 27, 2005

Child abuse, in itself, does not "doom" people to lives of horrible suffering.

The page linked gives a summary of research.
posted by TimothyMason at 9:40 AM on May 27, 2005

Sabine Dardenne - an interview.

Sabine Dardenne was like any other 12-year-old Belgian girl. But then the serial rapist and murderer Marc Dutroux abducted her and kept her locked in his cellar for 80 days, subjecting her to repeated sexual abuse. Nine years on, she is adamant that the ordeal is behind her. And, she tells Jon Henley, sympathy is the last thing she wants
posted by TimothyMason at 10:26 AM on May 27, 2005