Second musician is jailed for child sex at UK music centre

Second musician is jailed for child sex at UK music centre

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norman lebrecht

November 22, 2014

Wesley Hawryliw, 32, an orchestral musician from Leicester, has been jailed for eight years for offences against girls aged 11 to 15.

Earlier this year, Christopher Dunn, a former teacher at the same Soar Valley Music Centre, given eight years for offences against girls of 15.

 

soar valley

Comments

  • Hilary says:

    Would it be too far fetched to say there is a disproportionate number of sex abuse cases related to classically trained musicians? I get that impression sometimes.

  • James of Thames says:

    I would venture to say that the number of child sex abusers in all professions is disproportionately high.

    • new yorker says:

      You could say that, but it would be totally illogical, “disproportionate” being a statement of the relative number of such cases when the various disciplines are compared to one another.

  • Andy Lim says:

    I don´t understand why so many British child abuse cases are popping up now, (mostly from national known musicians), but not about the biggest American (world famous conductor of the most famous NY opera house) child (several under age) molester since at least 40 years. Known to almost classical scene of every country, mentionend in Norman Lebrecht´s great book “Who killed classical music” of 1997 already under the pseudonym “Jack”, I think it is extremely disappointing that it was obviously never important enough to make an issue out of it and get prosecuted. But the “unknown” guys get convicted, some like the Leicester orchestra member for 8 years. How many years should this New York Opera House superstar get for decennia of child and adolescent sexual abuse??? Justice and ethics are obviously measured with different rulers.

    • Hilary says:

      Fame, and the connections which that brings insulate the personality from attack. Perhaps this is less the case in the UK, post Savile and the hard hitting Dan Davies biog which appeared after his death.

    • Brian says:

      Seems a New York thing.
      All is well in the Big Apple.
      Did any Wall Street bankers ever got convicted for their dealings ?
      Don’t think so.
      A cesspit of corruption, and greed committed by ”untouchables”.

    • Malcolm James says:

      The problem is that when we say ‘we know about X’ (If I were NL, I would be a bit nervous about leaving Andy Lim’s unredacted comment up, because it is too easy to work out who he is referring to), we mean that we have all heard the same stories swirling around. None of us, it seems, have hard proof of anything and those who might have aren’t saying anything. X is known to guard his private life jealously, which means that his lawyers will be on to anything allegations immediately, so people are very cautious. When he dies, it will be a different matter. I can well imagine that his reputation might be posthumously trashed, just like Jimmy Savile’s, but, like Savile, it will not be possible to prove anything, and impose suitable punishment on X. At least Stuart Hall and Rolf Harris had their day in court.

  • JAMA11 says:

    a) Why resort to “decennia” when “decades” is available to you?

    b) James Levine is not the “biggest American” anything – conductor, musician, etc. let alone child molester. He’s just the first person that pops up whenever this topic is broached.

    Also, I have no interest in defending James Levine, but I will say that the classical music world in NYC is not nearly as powerful as people think. If a reporter from the NY Times got even a faint wind of a viable story, it would be curtains.

  • JAMA11 says:

    There is something up with this site. I keep leaving replies for people that then suddenly become independent posts. This was in reply to Andy Lim, above.

  • andy lim says:

    a. sorry jama11, decennia is used in Dutch. happily you understood decades, which is actually meant.
    b. if this issue comes up and this (at least in Europe) most known (biggest??) American conductor pop up as THE most wellknown never-prosecuted child molester, nobody understand that in the USA, a country so sentitive to child pornography and abuse that even a pencil drawing by Balthus of a sleeping naked child on Mouton Rothschild bottles (vintage 1991) are forbidden to enter the country, so that Mouton Rothchild had to re-label the sent back bottles with blank labels to be admitted back in the US!

    here an interesting link about New York journalists reacting on a similar theme:
    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/25/business/media/calling-out-bill-cosbys-media-enablers-including-myself.html

  • P says:

    This scumbag Dunn has been convictrd again Mar 2021 abd sentenced to a further 19months prison for offences committed around the same time.
    https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/a-toxic-spiral-self-destruction-5237487

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