Talent manager arrested on child molestation charges
A manager who represented child actors was arrested Tuesday in Santa Monica and charged with molesting an underage client, TheWrap has confirmed.
Martin Weiss, 47, has been charged with two counts of lewd acts with a child, one count of forced lewd acts, two counts of continuous lewd acts with a child and three counts of sodomy, Los Angeles Police Det. Fernando Avila told TheWrap.
Arraignment has been set for Thursday in a Van Nuys court.
Weiss is being held on $800,000 bail at Men's Central Jail in Los Angeles, Avila said.
The alleged victim, who is now 18, claimed he was forced to have sex with Weiss 30 or 40 times from 2005 to 2008, Avila said.
The alleged victim's name has not been released. He is an aspiring singer and musician, Avila said.
According to the Los Angeles Times, an affidavit states that Weiss allegedly told the victim that such sexual contact was common practice in the entertainment industry and telling anyone about it could hurt his career.
The client, concerned there might be other victims, met with Weiss and tape-recorded their conversation on November 15, according to the Times.
On November 17, the alleged victim filed a police report and gave police the tape. Avila said the tape is pretty long but that he could not discuss its contents.
Police have not ruled out the possibility of other victims. At this point, we know of one victim, Avila said.
Weiss has shut down Martin Weiss Management, alerting his clients via email Tuesday, the Times reports.
The company also served two adult clients, Gunnar Hansen and Judy O'Dea.
The Times had earlier reported that there was a convicted child molester and registered sex offender working in Hollywood and helping cast children for roles in movies, but did not name that individual.
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