Houston Sex Offender Opera Singer, David Daniels has been expelled from the singers’ organisation following his guilty plea for sexual assault.
The 57-year-old and his spouse, Scott Walters, entered a guilty plea for the sexual assault of an adult, classified as a second-degree felony, in Harris County District Court in Houston on August 4. Their accuser was the aspiring opera vocalist Sam Schultz.
Both individuals received an eight-year probation sentence and were mandated to register as sex offenders.
American Guild of Musical Artists spokesperson Alicia Cook said Wednesday that David Daniels is no longer a member of the union.
David Daniels was also fired as a University of Michigan professor and was removed by the San Francisco Opera from a production of Handel’s “Orlando.”
This week, the guild released a letter of censure dated Nov. 20, in which David Daniels was informed he was permanently barred from the guild.
“We strongly condemn your actions at the University of Michigan, specifically with regards to what appears to be a pattern of soliciting students for sex and offering them money, or both, in exchange for promised career advancement,” the letter from the guild’s disciplinary hearing panel read.
Citing the university’s investigatory report, the guild’s letter told David Daniels his behavior was “antithetical to your responsibilities as both an AGMA member and as a member of a broader community of performing artists.”
Matt Hennessy, a Houston-based lawyer for David Daniels, did not respond with a comment when contacted by AP.
Schultz said the move by the union against David Daniels was “a step in the right direction,” but noted it took three years to take action.
“Their delay indicates that AGMA does not yet care about abuses within its industry,” Schultz said.
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