Tag: David Copperfield

Thanks to talking "sources," details of a Seattle grand jury investigation into alleged rape allegations against magician David Copperfield are available for the world to see.

The story: A 21 year old woman attends a Copperfield show with her family. Almost as soon as they enter, they are ushered to the front. Copperfield has her come onstage to be a part of the show.

He invites her to his private island in the Bahamas, assuring her there will be other guests. There were no other guests, she says.

When the woman, 21, made the trip in late July -- after exchanging e-mails with Copperfield, 51 -- she found herself the only guest on the island with him, she told investigators. She has told Seattle police, and later the FBI, that Copperfield raped and struck her during her two days on the island, said sources familiar with her allegations.

She said that, afterward, Copperfield threatened her, telling her she'd better keep quiet, and then escorted her onto a plane, sources said.

More...

How do news agencies get things so wrong? Every media outlet reporting on the search warrants executed at David Copperfield's warehouse and the theater he performs in said that the feds had seized $2 million in cash from a safe at the warehouse.

The F.B.I. says it never happened. No currency was seized.

Since TalkLeft repeated the media report (and speculated as to why the feds might seize so much money from him) I'm giving equal space to the F.B.I.'s denial.

Apologies to David Copperfield, and shame on the Las Vegas television station (KLAS, a CNN affiliate)that first falsely reported the seizure. In their hurry to get a scoop, someone got very sloppy. As of this writing, they still haven't made the correction.

Update Oct. 21: The FBI denies seizing currency during the search. Follow-up post here.

******

Original Post 10/19

The David Copperfield rape allegation story isn't adding up for me on so many levels.

A Seattle woman has made a rape claim against magician David Copperfield, law enforcement sources tell FOX News. The woman told Seattle police the magician raped her while she was in the Bahamas, sources said. Because the alleged incident happened abroad and the woman did not report it until she returned to the United States, Seattle authorities turned over the case to the FBI.

The F.B.I. raided Copperfield's Las Vegas warehouse, which is more like a museum of his stuff, and seized a camera and $2 million in cash.

What federal crime is being investigated? A rape in the Bahamas is outside the jurisdiction of the U.S. For a rape to go federally, it usually has to occur on an Indian reservation, in a prison or have to do with transporting an underage woman across state lines to commit a sex offense or use of a date rape drug.

Did Copperfield take the woman to the Bahamas? Did he fly her from Seattle to Vegas first and then to the Bahamas? Is that enough to constitute interstate coercion or transporting a woman across state lines for the purpose of committing a sexual offense?

More....