Current:Home > ScamsOpera singer David Daniels pleads guilty in sexual assault trial-LoTradeCoin
Opera singer David Daniels pleads guilty in sexual assault trial
View Date:2024-12-23 18:39:31
David Daniels, one of the opera world's most well-known countertenors, pleaded guilty along with his husband Scott Walters on Friday in a Houston district court to drugging and raping a young vocalist in 2010.
Plaintiff Samuel Schultz was a 23-year-old graduate student at Rice University in Houston, Texas, when he met met Daniels and Walters at a party following one of Daniels' performances at the Houston Grand Opera. The couple invited him to the apartment where they were staying, and there he was sexually assaulted after a spiked drink caused the young singer to black out.
Daniels now faces eight years of probation for the second degree felony, as well as a requirement that he register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. In addition, the singer is ordered to refrain from contact with Schultz. Walters faces the same penalties.
"I am glad that the defendants have acknowledged by their guilty pleas the truth of my traumatic experience, and that this portion of my nightmarish ordeal has finally concluded," said Schultz in a statement shared with NPR. "I am glad that they are receiving punishments that the court deems to appropriately address the severity of their crimes."
"We are deeply relieved that the perpetrators of this despicable crime are finally facing the consequences of their choices," Schultz's family said in a statement provided to NPR. "This plea deal does not undo the monstrous events that led to this day, but we are here to love and support Samuel today and forever. We also know in a criminal legal system as broken as ours, victims rarely get justice for themselves, and our thoughts are with all victims of sexual violence."
Daniels initially denied the accusations. "These allegations are completely false," the countertenor said in a statement sent to NPR in October 2018, after Schultz went public with his story in an interview with the New York Daily News.
Opera houses around the world canceled Daniel's scheduled appearances once the allegations broke about his sexual misconduct. For example, Daniels was scheduled to sing Medoro in the San Francisco Opera's June 2019 performances of Handel's Orlando. The company removed him from the production in November 2018. The Metropolitan Opera in New York canceled Daniels' contract to perform in another Handel opera, Agrippina, amid the allegations.
The singer also lost his job as a tenured professor of voice at the University of Michigan in 2020.
veryGood! (8)
Related
- Elton John Details Strict Diet in His 70s
- How Melissa Gorga Has Found Peace Amid Ongoing Feud With Teresa Giudice
- 32 things we learned in NFL Week 9: Not your average QB matchups
- Polish president to appoint new prime minister after opposition coalition’s election win
- TikToker Campbell “Pookie” Puckett Gives Birth, Welcomes First Baby With Jett Puckett
- Willie Nelson, Sheryl Crow and Missy Elliott inducted into Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
- US orders Puerto Rico drug distribution company to pay $12 million in opioid case
- Texans running back steps in as emergency kicker in thrilling comeback win over Buccaneers
- Groups seek a new hearing on a Mississippi mail-in ballot lawsuit
- Two person Michigan Lottery group wins $1 million from Powerball
Ranking
- One person is dead after a shooting at Tuskegee University
- How Midwest Landowners Helped to Derail One of the Biggest CO2 Pipelines Ever Proposed
- MTV EMAs 2023 Winners: Taylor Swift, Jung Kook and More
- Trump's decades of testimony provide clues about how he'll fight for his real estate empire
- New Orleans marks with parade the 64th anniversary of 4 little girls integrating city schools
- Hungary has fired the national museum director over LGBTQ+ content in World Press Photo exhibition
- Albania agrees to temporarily house migrants who reach Italy while their asylum bids are processed
- Oklahoma State surges up and Oklahoma falls back in NCAA Re-Rank 1-133 after Bedlam
Recommendation
-
Justice Department says jail conditions in Georgia’s Fulton County violate detainee rights
-
Owner of Black-owned mobile gaming trailer in Detroit wants to inspire kids to chase their dreams
-
Officials in North Carolina declare state of emergency as wildfires burn hundreds of acres
-
Prince William goes dragon boating in Singapore ahead of Earthshot Prize ceremony
-
Singles' Day vs. Black Friday: Which Has the Best Deals for Smart Shoppers?
-
Albania agrees to temporarily house migrants who reach Italy while their asylum bids are processed
-
Trial opens for ex-top Baltimore prosecutor charged with perjury tied to property purchases
-
Kyle Richards tears up speaking about Mauricio Umansky split: 'Not my idea of my fairytale'