Magician David Copperfield was accused of sexually assaulting a then 20 year-old aspiring model in 2007. The woman claims that Copperfield tricked her into going to his estate in the Bahamas, claiming that she would be attending an industry party. When she got there, it was only Copperfield and her and she claims brutally raped and assaulted her in several separate incidents. The victim did everything right – she reported the attacks to the authorities, didn’t shower afterwards and had a rape kit performed when she returned home to Seattle. The FBI are still investigating this case and deciding if they have enough evidence to proceed with criminal charges. It’s a federal case as the rape took place in the Bahamas. The victim is suing Copperfield for damages, and he’s predictably attacking her character:

A woman who claims David Copperfield sexually assaulted and threatened her in 2007 has just filed a federal lawsuit against him.

The woman — a 22-year-old fashion model — alleges the assault took place while she was a guest on his private island in the Bahamas back in 2007, this according to the lawsuit obtained by The Seattle Times.

In the suit, the woman alleges she met David during one of his shows back in January of 2007 — then was invited to his island in July of the same year. The suit says after she watched a movie in David’s room, he “attacked [her] and sexually assaulted her” and threatened to kill her if she didn’t go along.

The lawsuit alleges David assaulted her two more times before she left the island. She reported the alleged assaults to Seattle police, who turned it over to the FBI.

Copperfield’s lawyers have already responded to the lawsuit with a long, brutal statement — here are a few of the highlights:

“This woman, who filed the lawsuit, has a history of lying … She has lied to law enforcement before and, as a result, had innocent people arrested based on a false accusation … she is incapable of telling the truth.

This lawsuit is extortion for money, plain and simple. Unfortunately, false claims like this only hurt the women who really have been abused, women who really need our help.”

[From TMZ]

TMZ uncovered a detailed document in 2007 in which Copperfield instructed his staff on ways to pull attractive women out of his audience and get their contact information, even going so far as to explain how to handle boyfriends and husbands. At the end of the “meet and greet,” the staff is instructed to tell the woman “Do you know that David has recently bought some islands in the Bahamas? Well they are BEAUTIFUL and we are doing a lot of project [sic] for these islands: Ads, TV, radio and many other promotions. So we like [sic] to keep in touch with you in case there is a job in the future we think you would be interested in.” The women are asked detailed information as to whether they’re single and where they’re staying.

The story on the Seattle Times’ website is much more detailed if you’d like to read it. It includes the allegations on how Copperfield attacked this woman. This makes me incredibly upset, especially considering Copperfield’s obnoxious response about “women who really need our help.” Yes people are innocent until proven guilty, but again read Copperfield’s detailed, super-creepy instructions to his staff on how to hand pick attractive women from the audience and trick them into going to the Bahamas with him and you tell me if you would leave your daughter/wife/girlfriend alone with him.

I bet this woman waited until the statute of limitations was nearly out because she was hoping that the criminal case would proceed. When it remained stalled, she decided on a civil suit. I hope that the Feds have enough evidence on Copperfield to level criminal charges and -if these allegations are true- that the victim receives a significant portion of his estate. I find this man loathsome.

Copperfield is shown at a press conference on 8/8/09 in Sydney. Credit: WENN.com

TMZ has documents from David Copperfield’s act that include detailed, asanine instructions to his staff on how to pull women from the audience that he hand picked for his act backstage afterwards so they can be profiled. Women he wants to use for his own sick ego fulfillment are called “Scorpions” and the paperwork even has instructions as to how boyfriends and husbands should be placated and delayed while the women are targeted for Copperfield’s later use.

What’s particularly sad about this is how deceptive and systematic it is. The National Enquirer has quotes from friends and family of the young woman who accused Copperfield of raping her in the Bahamas. While some people may say that she should have known better than to go unaccompanied, Copperfield set the stage for the alleged attack by inviting the woman, her family and boyfriend out to dinner with him when he was in her home city of Seattle.

The victim was just 21 and aspired for a career in modeling. Copperfield told her that she was coming to the Bahamas to go to a big industry party he was having where she would make contacts. He also told her that his villa was full when she asked if her boyfriend could come along. The details of how Copperfield targeted the woman are consistent with the documents that instruct his staff on how to handle the volunteers he picks out of the audience:

The woman first met Copperfield when she and her family attended his show in the state of Washington.

“A member of his staff zeroed in on her,” disclosed a family friend. “She was put in special seats, and David called her on stage as part of his act. Afterwards, he spoke with her backstage, took down her name and e-mail address…

Copperfield began to e-mail her almost immediately,” the family friend revealed. “He invited her and her family, along with her boyfriend, out to dinner in Seattle and talked about how he could help her modeling career.”

The master illusionist invited the woman to attend a party at his Bahamas retreat in late July, where she could network with people in the entertainment industry, say sources.

The friend added more details that have been relayed to the FBI: “She asked if her boyfriend could come along (to the Bahamas), but was told his private enclave is restricted to 24 guests and it was already going to be full.”

She arrive on July 28 and was shocked there were no other guests. “From the moment she entered his house, she got the eerie feeling that hidden cameras were following her,” disclosed the friend.

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, November 12, 2007]

The woman then says she was brutally raped, and that she was punched and held down by Copperfield and told that she “really wanted [it].”

And, contrary to earlier reports, the woman did get a rape kit done. She took photos of the scene with her cellphone camera and she didn’t shower before she returned to Seattle the following day. She had the rape kit performed at a hospital in Seattle, so it does sound like there’s enough evidence for a trial. She also was wired by the FBI two months afterwards in a sting to get Copperfield, and it’s not clear what information they obtained, but I hope they got enough to nail the bastard:

Her story of the alleged attack is the centerpiece of the FBI’s investigative file, and it is dramatic and haunting. Her friend revealed the details exclusively to The Enquirer: “She says she tried to fight him off, but he ripped off her dress. She remembers Copperfield telling her: ‘Don’t play coy with me, you know you really wanted this! You wouldn’t have flown all the way down here if you didn’t!”

“He pinned her arms on the bed, but she tried her best to fight back and was left with bruises after he struck her. She thinks it was all captured on video.”

But the victim did not see video camera and cannot be sure videos exist.

Her stepbrother confirmed the brutal details of the alleged attack to The Enquirer. “He punched her and ripped off her clothes. She tried to fight him off but couldn’t”

The woman says that she used her cell phone camera to take pictures of the scene after she was attacked. She did not shower, and when she returned to Seattle the next day, she was taken by her mother to Harborview Medical Center where staff used a “rape kid” to gather possible evidence.

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, November 12, 2007]

I read a comment either here or on another blog, I can’t find it again at this point, that Copperfield is now headed for a career at county fairs and small venues, if he’s even allowed to continue working his magic act. I hope he also goes to jail for an extended period of time. There seems to be enough evidence to prove that he committed this crime and that it was brutal and premeditated. If there are more victims as expected, they will hopefully speak out about what happened to them, as hard as it is to come forward.

People were wondering why the FBI raided magician David Cooperfield’s warehouse and seized his computer and camera after he was accused of raping a woman while in the Bahamas. It made sense that the FBI had jurisdiction because the crime is a federal issue since it happened outside the US and the alleged victim filed a complaint against Copperfield when she was back in the states.

The real reason the feds may have taken Copperfield’s effects may have to do with the insidious nature of the alleged crime. TMZ reports that Copperfield lured women for sex through his magic act, pulling some backstage and asking them a series of questions to determine how vulnerable and willing they were. Like Akon but with more panache, Copperfield is said to have used promises of appearing in his magic act to get women to submit to the first phase in his elaborate seduction:

Sources now tell TMZ Copperfield designed part of his show around “a system for picking up women.” During his show, David goes into the audience and chooses women to come on stage. We’re told that if David likes a girl, he’ll use code words with assistants like “mama” and “secrecy.” The assistants mark the women on a map of the inside of the Hollywood Theater at MGM Grand. After the show, the women are brought backstage — and that’s where the profiling begins.

The women are told that David may use them in his show when he comes to their hometown. They are then photographed with a digital camera, asked questions like, “What is your favorite men’s cologne?” and “Where do you like to vacation?” We’re told one of those vacation spots mentioned by staff is the Bahamas, where the accuser claims she was assaulted. Copperfield owns a cluster of islands in the Bahamas — which he bought for $50 million.

This may explain the FBI’s interest in David’s camera system and hard drive. If the accuser is a woman who was brought on stage, the FBI would be interested in a possible M.O.

[From TMZ.com]

Is David Copperfield a serial seducer that uses his semi-celebrity status and dimestore hypnosis to woo women? Does he get violent and aggressive when his intended targets don’t submit to his advances?

Right now it sounds like a he said/she said case, and while I usually side with the victim we may never know what really happened since she didn’t get the necessary evidence against him by going to the hospital after she said she was attacked. Unless more women come out and say that Copperfield forced himself on them too, there may not be enough of a case against him. He could have done it, he might be innocent and something else happened between them, and/or he could be just a creep and not a rapist. Even if he is declared innocent he’ll always have the stigma of a rape accusation hanging over his head, especially if he tried to get women to date him by using his magic act. How lame!

David Copperfield is shown performing on stage in Hollywood with his penis extension motorcycle on 2/2/07. Thanks to PRPhotos.

David Copperfield’s warehouse, which he calls the International Museum & Library of the Conjuring Arts, was raided by federal agents his week. They also checked oinvestigated the MGM Nightclub on the Vegas Sstrip where David performed Wednesday night, before he flies out (in a plane, not by himself like he does in his act) to Indonesia. He is scheduled to return for more shows at the MGM in November.

A dozen agents from Seattle carted away a computer hard drive, a memory chip from a digital camera and close to $2 million in cash during a late-night raid Wednesday on the famed magician’s Sin City storage space, KLAS-TV reports.

An FBI spokesperson said that out-of-state agents get involved when tips originate in their area, meaning the warehouse was in some way connected to an investigation that originated in Washington—although what the investigation concerns is now anyone’s guess.

After the raid, Copperfield’s attorney issued a statement confirming that the search took place.

“We understand there is an investigation, [we] are in touch with the investigators, and are respecting the confidentiality of the investigation,” lawyer David Chesnoff said.

E! Online

Watch what you’ve collected closely FBI – David could make it disappear with just a wave of his hand.

Unfortunately, a computer hard drive and a memory card from a camera makes it sound suspiciously like David has been viewing some inappropriate material and maybe making some at home versions of the same. I’m not sure why the cash was seized, but I guess it is pretty unusual to find $2 million just lying around. Well, it is at my house! Tax evasion?

Apart from old computers and a bit of cash, David apparently also keeps Houdini memorabilia, magic books, posters, historic documents, an electric chair, gargoyle heads and more prosaic items like vintage cars. The International Museum & Library of the Conjuring Arts isn’t an actual museum, and visitors are only at David’s discretion, so perhaps the FBI were just very, very curious about magic.

Update By Celebitchy: TMZ reports that Copperfield is accused of raping a woman while they were in the Bahamas. Since it is outside US jurisdiction and she reported it here, the feds got involved.