Police in New York arrested Phish bassist Mike Gordon Aug. 11 on charges of child endangerment.
Gordon was found alone in a boathouse with a nine-year-old girl.
Gordon allegedly met the girl and her father backstage at a Grateful Dead show in Jones Beach, New York. Her father is a leader of a “Hell’s Angels” chapter.
The girl’s mother became concerned when she could not locate her daughter backstage.
She found her daughter in a secluded boathouse near the venue with Gordon where he was taking “art photos” of the young girl.
A joint-statement from Phish’s label Elektra Records, the girl’s family and Gordon called the incident an “unfortunate misunderstanding.”
Gordon is not the first musician involved in an unfortunate misunderstanding with children.
Artists from Michael Jackson to R. Kelly have been associated with trials dealing with the exploitation of children.
Recently, police investigated legendary guitarist from the Who Pete Townshend, and released him with a caution on charges of accessing child pornography over the Internet. Townshend claims he merely was researching material for his autobiography dealing with his own sexual abuse as a child. The problem with sexual misconduct toward children seems almost common in the recording industry.
“It’s not a plague among musicians. I would say it is a widespread epidemic; it’s a sickness,” said Richard Hester, a business sophomore.
Hester said that the problems have nothing to do with the artists being in the limelight.
He believes offenders are just more often caught because of their life in the public eye. Hester said many people have this type of sickness and are never caught.
In Gordon’s case, it is not just a question of sexual misconduct but also a question of art.
Artist often straddle the line between avant-garde and perverse.
Bonnie Carlson, a geography sophomore, said what Gordon did with the young girl could be considered crossing a line.
“When you take a child’s innocence for granted, that is what’s crossing the line. If you tell a child, ‘Let’s take a picture of you in your nightie,’ they won’t understand the motives. The photographer understands the possible intent of the picture and the child does not,” Carlson said.
Sick or talented, Gordon released his solo debut Aug. 26.
The record, called “Inside In,” is distributed on Rope a Dope Records.
Gordon will face the charges in court Sept. 29. Whether it was an unfortunate misunderstanding or not, Gordon still faces more than a year in jail.