JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER
Associated Press
HONOLULU (AP) — A former aspiring actor and model withdrew another lawsuit Wednesday claiming an entertainment industry figure sexually abused him, a move that prompted one lawyer to say the four cases were built on lies and character smears.
Without explanation, attorneys for Michael Egan III filed papers in federal court in Honolulu voluntarily dismissing the case against former network TV executive Garth Ancier.
Los Angeles attorney Louise Ann Fernandez released a statement on behalf of Ancier saying the case against him was reckless and “grounded in lies.”
“Just as this case imploded when the facts became known, any further legal maneuvers or gimmicks will fail because unsupported statements, falsehoods and character smears have no place in any court,” the statement said.
Mark Gallagher, Egan’s Hawaii attorney referred questions to Florida attorney Jeff Herman, who didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Three weeks ago, Egan withdrew a suit against David Neuman, another former TV executive. Two other lawsuits by Egan are pending against “X-Men” director Bryan Singer and theater producer Gary Goddard. Both men have denied the allegations.
Egan alleges that Singer abused him several times during trips to Hawaii in 1999, when Egan was 17. Egan also accuses Singer of abusing him earlier in California as part of a Hollywood sex ring. Similar allegations were made in the other lawsuits.
Ancier never visited the estate in Hawaii where Egan claimed he was molested, Fernandez has said.
In a motion filed in May to dismiss the case, attorneys for Ancier argued that the lawsuits were an attempt to “shake down Hollywood executives” and “part of transparent effort by a non-Hawaii resident — who did not even set foot in Hawaii himself during the time in question — to avail himself of Hawaii’s extended statute of limitations.”
Egan sued in April under a Hawaii law that suspended for two years the statute of limitations in civil sex abuse cases. Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie last week signed a bill into law extending that window for another two years.
The Associated Press does not typically identify alleged victims of sex abuse but is naming Egan because he has spoken publicly about his case.
Federal courts can handle cases when parties are from different states.
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