A US concertmaster is charged with child rape
NewsOhio Police have arrested a former concertmaster of the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra in connection with the alleged rape of a child between the years 2008 and 2019, starting when she was six years old.
He is being held in jail pending a court appearance.
The suspect is Odin Rathnam, 61. He was concertmaster in Harrisburg, Pa, from 1991 to 2012. The orchestra says: ‘We will do everything we can to cooperate fully should we be contacted by law enforcement as part of their investigation.’
Rathnam, who is US born, faces 30 criminal counts.
There has been no statement from his legal team.
Report here.
People, keep in mind he is a registered democrat voter
Something tell me, “Ok then”, that if you had to use your legal name to post such a moronic comment, you would have not posted.
So next time, please pretend that’s the case and spare the rest of us such unthinking, idiotic comments.
Ok then
Are you joking??? What would you say about the great orange rapist himself???
I didn’t know Bill Clinton liked oranges that much.
Never convicted of rape for starters, and let’s not forget Tara Reade, swept under the rug.
And your presidential nominee is a convicted sexual abuser. Abusers come from all walks of life. Ignorance is ugly.
FYI, Bill Clinton is no longer president.
How do you know that? Supposition? Investigation? Or bias?
Yes, that is true. Odin came onto my Facebook profile and chastised me for being a ‘racist’ white Republican. He said I didn’t understand what it was like to be a ‘colored’ person (like him) in this country in 2020. I had to correct him. I actually am biracial and fall under the category of an ethnic minority. I proceeded to hit the block button on his profile. I have ZERO regrets now blocking him on FB. He also was a YouTube troll commenting under the pseudonym ‘winrx’ on various videos. Something tells me that that YouTube account will be going quiet.
I was told that he was winrx as well by a friend. He posted trolling comments on many of my videos dating back to when I was a senior at Eastman. Back in 2007/2008, posting on youtube wasn’t so mainstream- the few that did post often got alot of criticism- not always constructive! I thought it was odd that someone much more successful than I am would find the need to write nasty comments on my videos – someone I never had any dealings with otherwise . I hadn’t heard from anyone else that he is winrx until you just told me!
Anyone that has a problem with this obvious association is a MAP-ophobe. Report to your local Komisar for re-education.
An Oneonta, Alabama youth minister held without bond while facing multiple sex crimes involving underage girls is a republican.
Your cult master, trump, is a registered rapist, and was identified as a filthy sex criminal by the judge in his E. Jean Carroll case.
any young child should have a parent or family with
them when they have any
music lessons. it is crazy
to leave children on their
own.
Which means that only the rich will have music lessons, who can afford to have a non-working parent not only drive the kid to lessons but also hang out there the entire time.
as a violin teacher, I recommend parents attend lessons for male students under 10, and female students under 14 for the first 6 months. But let’s get real – in the old days, parents never attended lessons… most violin teachers are NOT child molesters… The only solution to the problem is parents constantly talking to their children about these topics – if something goes awry in the lesson, the child needs to speak up immediately!! the common denominator in most of these perv cases – the victim didn’t speak up until many years later! not the victims fault – but parents need to do a better job at educating their children to be vigilant!
The victim was his stepdaughter, not a student.
And yet his tenure at the University has been stopped..before a trial even. I do believe there should be proper legal process rather than trial by media.
Please try harder and get over the logical fallacy of Secundum quid. Do you not know that most children who have lesson with adults alone do not end up victims? That’s like me telling you that it’s crazy for you to even drive, given the accidents. Your attempt at blaming the parents and not the abuser is not only factually irrelevant, it is morally irresponsible. The solution isn’t for parents to be with their kids 24/7, but to build systems and cultures that produce less abusers, and can stop them earlier.
David – are you seriously suggesting that most music teachers would sexually abuse a child if left alone?
Building systems and cultures that produce less abusers? How do you suggest we do that? hire psychics? mass surveillance? shifting the focus to the victims and their parents is the only realistic option. Criminals will always be criminals.
I know it wasn’t the case until recently, but nowadays, abusers ARE punished severely and accusers are taken seriously by police and prosecutors. They are arrested and put into prison and the sex offender registry and basically have no careers.
The problem is that there’s no way to know whom is an abusers, until they commit abuse, and are credibly accused. The only way we can catch them sooner without victims reporting them sooner is to have mass surveillance!
Anyone that says that parents should NOT speak to their children more about PROTECTING THEMSELVES from sexual abuse is an idiot! How else will children even know this is wrong, not their fault, and that it’s okay to report it? YOU are the one that’s morally irresponsible!
That may be, but this situation doesn’t involve a teacher/student relationship.
He taped his stepdaughter, not his student
He is 58, not 61. The accuracy is important if you are trying to be a reliable source.
Both ages are given. We have not seen a birth certificate.
He’s 58. Link to police records: https://dauphin.crimewatchpa.com/lowerpaxtonpd/3730/arrests/rathnam-odin-18-3121c-rape-child-f1-and-8-additional-charges
Throw the key away
But that’s the problem, isn’t it? Excessive leniency which is very very enabling of criminality.
The accused was not having an inappropriate relationship with a student but with his step-daughter. However, one has to be very, very careful. A violin teacher in Maryland, USA was accused of inappropriate behavior with his student. I believe, while a student’s mother being present. Eventually, the charges were dropped but the teacher’s reputation was already irrepairably damaged. He had to relocate to a different country.
Why is this stuff so common with concertmasters, section leaders, professors, etc.? As a young professional, I’ve witnessed so much creepy behavior with so many professors and “well-established” professionals that seem to get tons of work… and nobody calls it out. It really seems to be a thing in the Classical Music world and it’s sickening. Narcissistic, mentally unstable, unprofessional behavior often gets rewarded. I genuinely don’t understand it…
I used to be a member of the violin section during his tenure as concertmaster with the Harrisburg Symphony. I hated every moment of being in that orchestra and eventually quit. Many of the audition winners, including myself, were placed in the back. Meanwhile, his mostly male friends, who had auditioned but didn’t win, were placed in the front seats of the first violins. He was always allowed to be himself and act as he pleased. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was known by those desperate violinist friends of his. These are my very strong assumptions.
I hate orchestras at the best of times!
I was also in HSO from 1970-1991, when Rathnam was just starting. If I remember correctly, he wore black cowboy boots with his tux!
Sounds very narcissistic to me