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Elite Model Agency Founder Named in Abortion-Sex

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From:  The Pro-Life Infonet
Reply-To:  Steven Ertelt
Subject:   Elite Model Agency Founder Named in Abortion-Sex Abuse Lawsuit
Source:   Reuters; December 10, 2002

Elite Model Agency Founder Named in Abortion-Sex Abuse Lawsuit

Los Angeles, CA -- John Casablancas, founder of leading model agency Elite,
has been named in a sex abuse lawsuit by an aspiring model who says he made
her pregnant at the age of 15, and then arranged an abortion -- all more
than 15 years ago.

Casablancas, 60, whose Elite agency has represented supermodels such as
Cindy Crawford and Naomi Campbell, is accused of sexual abuse of a minor.
The plaintiff, whose name was not made public, is seeking substantial
damages.

Lawyers for Casablancas said the allegations were fabricated and were
confident the case would be dismissed.

The lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday, alleges that
Casablancas began sexually abusing the girl in 1988 when she was a finalist
in Elite's prestigious "Look of the Year" competition for fresh new faces.

The former model said she traveled with Casablancas to New York later that
year when it was discovered she was pregnant by him. She alleges she was
driven to a doctor's office and an abortion was arranged for her at the
behest of Casablancas.

Casablancas set up the Elite agency in New York in 1970 and made it into
one of the world's leading model agencies, guiding the careers of Linda
Evangelista, Andie MacDowell and Kelly Emberg and rivaling the
long-established Ford Models Inc.

The name of the plaintiff in the Los Angeles lawsuit is being withheld but
her lawyer said she was now in her 30s, married with two children, and
living in San Diego.

"What happened to me should never happen to any little girl. I hope that by
coming forward I can protect other minor boys and girls working for Elite
or any other agency," the plaintiff said in a statement released on Tuesday.

Her lawyer Raymond Boucher said that despite the years she was "still
grappling with the horrors of what happened."

Casablancas's lawyer Robert Wolf accused Boucher of trying to "drum up
business" for his law firm, which in recent months has specialized in
representing alleged victims in California of the Catholic Church sex abuse
scandal.

"California has no legal jurisdiction for this lawsuit and we are confident
it is going to be dismissed. The motivations of this plaintiff, who
discovers 15 years later in fabricated allegations that she has been
abused, are suspicious and driven by greed -- her greed and the greed of
her attorneys.

"There is no basis in fact for this lawsuit. We have no doubt that Mr.
Casablancas will prevail," Wolf told Reuters.

Casablancas left Elite in 2000 and now runs the John Casablancas Modeling
and Career Center in New York.

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Abortion-Sex Named Founder Agency Model Elite

In everything there is an opposite, thus in the next magazine you look at and see the face of the beautiful model you may wish to consider the opposition that was attached to their being modeled in the first place.