Opera star held in rape
Famed opera singer David Daniels and his husband have been indicted in Texas on charges they took turns raping a fellow musician nearly a decade ago.
A grand jury indicted Daniels, 53, and spouse William “Scott” Walters, 36, in Harris County District Court Thursday for sexual assault.
If convicted, they could face up to 20 years in prison.
It was last August that baritone Samuel Schultz, the alleged victim in the case, first stepped forward and revealed his story to the Daily News.
In an exclusive first interview, Schultz said Daniels and Walters drugged and raped him after he agreed to visit the couple’s corporate apartment following a Houston Grand Opera performance of “Xerxes” in May 2010.
Schultz, 32, said the couple fed him a laced beverage and attacked him after he blacked out.
Daniels and Walters, who were married in 2014 by Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, denied the allegations in brief statements to The News.
“I appreciate you reaching out to me,” Daniels, who was a worldrenowned countertenor at the time, told The News. “Other than I deny these allegations, I have nothing to say. They’re completely false.”
A lawyer for Daniels and Walters defended his clients in an email to The News on Friday.
“Sam Schultz’s allegations are false. He is not a victim. He drove himself to David and Scott’s apartment at 3:20 a.m. to meet them after a night of partying,” lawyer Matt Hennessy said.
At a meeting earlier this week, Schultz said he was both apprehensive and proud that the indictments for his alleged rape were about to be filed after nearly a year of unwanted notoriety and even blacklisting.
Schultz said he’s suffered from the rape andd all that followed but felt triumphant about coming forward so the culture of “look the other way” in opera and classical music might change.
“I’m thankful for the team at (the) New York Daily News” for breaking the story and “very relieved to see justice being served in what continues to be a long fight,” he said Friday.
Daniels was placed on paid leave from his tenured professor position pending an investigation into Schultz’s claims. University of Michigan spokesman Rick Fitzgerald told The News in an email Friday that Daniels remains on leave but the school is seeking his dismissal.