“Conductor James Levine, who was long associated with Ravinia and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, will not face criminal charges over claims that he engaged in sexual misconduct with a teen boy in Lake Forest decades ago,” writes Vikki Ortiz Healy in Sunday’s (12/10) Chicago Tribune. “Lake Forest police and the Lake County state’s attorney’s office announced Friday that, after a thorough investigation of the accuser’s account, evidence and witness statements, authorities were not able to prove the alleged acts took place in 1986 and 1987. And even if they could be proved, they would not have been considered criminal because the statutory age of consent in Illinois was 16—the age the accuser was reported to be at the time…. The man reported his claims of sexual misconduct by Levine to Lake Forest police and they were made public in published reports earlier this month, along with similar claims from three other people…. The law has changed since 1986 to require an age of consent to be 17. There is also now a provision in Illinois raising the age of consent to 18 in cases where the suspect is in a position of trust, authority or supervision in relation to the victim.”
Posted December 11, 2017
