From www.nydailynews.com – A sex-crazed septuagenarian played up his Hollywood connections to prey on 11 starry-eyed young beauties at his Manhattan pad, authorities said Tuesday.
Oscar-winning songwriter Joseph Brooks, who penned the syrupy ’70s ballad “You Light Up My Life,” and his sleazy personal assistant are accused of luring the aspiring models and actresses to Brooks’ E. 63rd St. apartment with promises of parts in his next movie.
“For the most part, they were people who read an ad and thought this might be the big chance to be a star,” said Assistant District Attorney Maxine Rosenthal.
“I feel like a weight has been lifted,” said victim Loretta Spruell, 23, of Washington State, who once tried out for “American Idol.” “I’m glad he is going to be held accountable for all the lives he’s destroyed and not hurt anyone else.”
Brooks, 71, turned himself in Tuesday to face 82 counts of sex-related charges, including rape. He whined about being fingerprinted, sources said. His Seattle-based assistant, Shawni Lucier, is to turn herself in next week.
Lucier, 41, is accused of lining up the trysts for her boss with beautiful women from Oregon, California, Florida and Washington State.
“She acted as the gatekeeper,” said Lt. Adam Lamboy of the Manhattan Special Victims Squad. Lucier would then fly with the women and drive them to Brooks’ home.
“[Brooks] would say, ‘You ought to have a glass of wine, that’s part of the procedure,'” said District Attorney Robert Morgenthau.
The women, ages 18 to 30, were “incapacitated” by the drinks, prosecutors said. Toxicology tests have been inconclusive.
“He may very well have drugged them,” said Lisa Friel, chief of the DA’s Sex Crimes Unit.
Brooks, who also co-produced the 1983 flick “Eddie and the Cruisers,” allegedly used his Oscar as a prop to have the women audition for a role as a boozing hooker who drives men wild.
“This could be you, this could be you holding the Oscar, in the sense, ‘I can make you a star,'” Lamboy said.
Brooks bankrolled the 1977 romance flick “You Light Up My Life” and penned Debby Boone’s title track. He also composed commercial jingles, including one for Pepsi in 1970.
He had a stroke in April 2008 but before then “was an intimidating presence,” Morgenthau said.
Lucier’s neighbor Brenda Taylor was shocked by the news – especially since Lucier has three daughters: “Didn’t she think how someone could do that to your daughter? That’s really messed up.”