Hollywood has been rocked by allegations of child sex abuse brought against Bryan Singer, executive producer of the TV series House and director of The Usual Suspects, Superman Returns and three X-Men movies.
The civil suit, lodged in the US district court of Hawaii just weeks ahead of the launch of Singer's latest film, X-Men: Days of Future Past, contains detailed allegations of abuse by Singer and others against Michael F. Egan in 1998 and 1999.
Egan was an aspiring actor and aged 17 at the time of the alleged assaults by Singer. The alleged assaults occurred in California, where the age of consent is 18, and in Hawaii, where it is 16, but as Egan is claiming he did not consent to any of the acts, his age at the time is not central to the matter.
The suit claims that Singer "manipulated his power, wealth, and position in the entertainment industry to sexually abuse and exploit the underage plaintiff through the use of drugs, alcohol, threats, and inducements, which resulted in [the] plaintiff suffering catastrophic psychological and emotional injuries. Defendant Singer did so as part of a group of adult males similarly positioned in the entertainment industry that maintained and exploited boys in a sordid sex ring."
The complaint lodged by Herman Law, a Florida-based firm specialising in sexual assault cases, claims that Egan was groomed by convicted sex offender Marc Collins-Rector for parties at a mansion in Encino that hosted "many notorious parties". It is referred to in the documents as the "M&C Estate".
Egan had been introduced to Collins-Rector via Chad Shackley, the older brother of a school friend.
The documents allege that "in an attempt to manipulate his compliance with the sexual demands of those adults who frequented the M&C Estate", Egan was given a role in an online series called Royal Standard, paid a salary of $1500 a week plus another $600 a week "from different accounts without any designation of job duties, title, or position".
Egan was allegedly just one of many teenage males who were "lured to the M&C Estate to have sex with the adults who resided there or visited there for recreational and business purposes".
It is alleged that while Egan professed his heterosexuality and resisted the overtures of Collins-Rector, he was told that the men who attended the parties there included some who "controlled Hollywood and would destroy his hopes and dreams of an acting career if he did not keep them happy".
The complaint claims that Egan was "forced to consume alcoholic beverages and drugs" and was also "surreptitiously administered drugs when they were placed in beverages that he consumed". Though he claims never to have consented to such activity, Egan allegedly became a sexual plaything at the "infamous and degenerate parties" at which Singer was allegedly a frequent guest.
The complaint alleges that Singer began abusing Egan two to three months after Collins-Rector did, and details several incidents of oral and anal rape allegedly perpetrated by Singer on two trips to Hawaii, in August and October 1999.
The time frame of the events referred to is beyond the statute of limitations, and Egan's lawyers have applied for special dispensation for those limits to be waived.
Egan's representatives are seeking damages for infliction of emotional distress, battery, assault and invasion of privacy by unreasonable intrusion.
No amount has been stipulated, other than that it is in excess of $75,000, but civil settlements in the US are routinely in the millions.
As of Thursday afternoon, plans were still being made for Bryan Singer to attend a press weekend in New York City in early May to promote the latest X-Men movie.
