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It seems that a well known Toronto magician is also going to jail for something along the same lines, although a bit worse. Anywhere from 9 months to 18 months. Magicians are a strange bunch. Still, in my capacity as a psychic reverend all I can say is "All ye who are without sin cast the first stone".

mark lewis wrote:It seems that a well known Toronto magician is also going to jail for something along the same lines, although a bit worse. Anywhere from 9 months to 18 months. Magicians are a strange bunch. Still, in my capacity as a psychic reverend all I can say is "All ye who are without sin cast the first stone".

I wondered what his sentence would be...

Anybody watching the UK news will see that at the moment we have a 15 yr old girl on the run with her 30 year old teacher , so its not just Magicians!!

which is far worse, since this 31 year old teacher, has run away with the 15 year old, AND the authorities knew all about this relationship, and did nothing about it for the last 6+months, other than keep an eye on the situation! Crazy!

daleshrimpton wrote:which is far worse, since this 31 year old teacher, has run away with the 15 year old, AND the authorities knew all about this relationship, and did nothing about it for the last 6+months, other than keep an eye on the situation! Crazy!

Indeed. It's not the first case at the school. A supply teacher was jailed in 2007 for grooming and having sex with two under age girls. The school received tip offs and did nothing. A retired priest was allowed to stay on as a school governor for a year after child abuse allegations surfaced about him. He's now awaiting trail on THIRTY EIGHT counts going back to the 1960s.

Interestingly, if this was France he's have been golden. The age of consent in France is 15. In Spain, it's a shockingly low 13.

I think thats why they are having trouble tracking her down. The french police view this purely as a missing person enquiry. Also he has a good name for someone involved in a phone scandal.

DrTodd wrote:

mark lewis wrote:It seems that a well known Toronto magician is also going to jail for something along the same lines, although a bit worse. Anywhere from 9 months to 18 months. Magicians are a strange bunch. Still, in my capacity as a psychic reverend all I can say is "All ye who are without sin cast the first stone".

I wondered what his sentence would be...

He got 14 months. It is a far more serious case than the Bellars one. After reading the news report about it I feel very sorry for the victim who was in quite a vulnerable state at the time. She seems quite traumatised by the whole thing.

I remember a while back there was a lot of heated debate going on because someone accused Mr Bellars of doing a similar thing with another girl, she posted about it and was quickly shouted down by his brother and fellow magicians.

=/ I am not entirely sure on the accuracy and of course it is not fair to throw out accusations but it does make you wonder..

And on the Magic Cafe and other places, Magicians have been offering excuses for him. Seeing what is happening now with the Savile case we all need to make sure that when this happens, NO cover up or excuse must be made, otherwise we all could end being in the same position as the BBC and other insitutions!

It seems some magicians would make good Newsnight producers!

A lot of them excuse him by saying the age of consent is lower in other countries. Women get stoned to death for adultery in other countries. Doesn't mean it's right.

corindaman wrote:And on the Magic Cafe and other places, Magicians have been offering excuses for him. Seeing what is happening now with the Savile case we all need to make sure that when this happens, NO cover up or excuse must be made, otherwise we all could end being in the same position as the BBC and other insitutions!

I can only agree. I loathe the way people often cast this in the passive: Texts don't "get sent", children don't "get assaulted", people don't "get raped". Someone makes an active decision - to text, to assault, to rape. It's not the victim.

Considering that magic is a profession which often comes into close contact with young people, you would think that all magicians would express disapproval at Bellars actions to distance magic from these kinds of things but the huge support he has received from many in the magic world and the keenness to blame a 15 year old girl rather than a 31 year old man for this situation doesn't do the magicians image any good and is quite alarming. I don't think Bellars will be the last magician involved in this kind of thing.

JabJay wrote:I remember a while back there was a lot of heated debate going on because someone accused Mr Bellars of doing a similar thing with another girl, she posted about it and was quickly shouted down by his brother and fellow magicians.

=/ I am not entirely sure on the accuracy and of course it is not fair to throw out accusations but it does make you wonder..

Bellars has been handed a three year community order and a sexual offenders prevention order that restricts him from coming into contact with children unless their parents know of his convictions.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-19927270

"It's never happened before and it will never happen again," Bellars said. "I'm the same man you've always known and I made a stupid mistake."

corindaman wrote:And on the Magic Cafe and other places, Magicians have been offering excuses for him. Seeing what is happening now with the Savile case we all need to make sure that when this happens, NO cover up or excuse must be made, otherwise we all could end being in the same position as the BBC and other insitutions!

The Magic Cafe is very inconsistent here. They allow the Richard Bellars case to be discussed whereas they delete the thread about the Toronto magician which is a much more serious case where the accused got jail time. I did hear that a friend of the accused complained to the cafe and they deleted it. I still see the Hank Lee thread is still going strong.

I suppose one should wonder if threads about magicians in legal trouble should be allowed or disallowed. And also whether pre-conviction or post conviction should make a difference as to whether a fellow magician's transgressions should be discussed online. Is it purely gossip or is it in the public interest to discuss these matters? I am undecided about this, to be frank.