HONOLULU (AP) — A former aspiring actor and model has
withdrawn his lawsuit alleging a former TV executive sexually abused him
during trips to Hawaii in 1999.
Attorneys for Michael Egan III
filed papers Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Honolulu voluntarily
dismissing the case against David Neuman.
Neuman, "X-Men" director
Bryan Singer, producer Gary Goddard and former television executive
Garth Ancier were sued by Egan in April under a Hawaii law that
suspended the statute of limitations in civil sex abuse cases.
The
Associated Press does not typically identify alleged victims of sex
abuse but is naming Egan because he has spoken publicly about his case.
He
alleges 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. The other lawsuits involve
similar allegations.
All the defendants deny the claims. A judge next month will consider motions to dismiss the remaining
cases.
The
withdrawal of the lawsuit against Neuman "exposes this despicable
lawsuit for what it really was: an unethical smearing and failed
shakedown of a completely innocent man," Neuman’s Los Angeles attorneys
said in a statement.
Egan’s Hawaii attorney, Mark Gallagher,
referred questions to Egan’s Florida attorney, Jeff Herman, whose office
released a statement saying: "Mr. Egan maintains the allegations and
has even passed a polygraph test based on those specific allegations. We
are evaluating our next step in seeking justice for Mr. Egan."
Lawyers
for Neuman filed a motion last month to dismiss the case, arguing that
Egan said in an statement under oath in 2003 that Neuman was not in
Hawaii with him and didn’t sexually assault him or engage in any kind of
sexual behavior with him.
"Now, more than 10 years after signing
the declaration, plaintiff inexplicably has chosen to suddenly claim
that Mr. Neuman had engaged in the very conduct which 10 years earlier
he swore Mr. Neuman had no part of," the motion said.
The motion
also argued that Egan is taking advantage of Hawaii’s law that afforded a
two-year window to file civil sex abuse lawsuits if the statute of
limitations had lapsed. The window closed in April, but a bill before
Gov. Neil Abercrombie would extend the filing deadline to 2016.
Federal courts can handle such cases when parties are from different states.
"Hawaii’s
extended state statute of limitations is being used by a Florida lawyer
and a Nevada plaintiff as the vehicle to publicly defame and embarrass a
California resident (Mr. Neuman), in the hope that Mr. Neuman, rather
than fight these blatantly false and frivolous claims, will simply pay
the plaintiff to go away," Neuman’s motion said.
Neuman has worked for Disney and CNN as a TV executive.