| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| therippa |
Posted - 08/19/2003 : 12:28:43 PM
NEW YORK -- A Phish is on the hook for endangering the welfare of a minor after he allegedly tried to take pictures of a young girl inside a deserted boathouse, according to a report.
Mike Gordon, 38, was arrested after being found late at night in a secluded area with a 9-year-old girl. The girl's parents raised an alarm when she disappeared from a backstage area at Jones Beach Theater, WNBC-TV reported. But following private conversations between the band's manager and the child's parents, there's a question about whether the band's bassist will avoid facing that charge.
New York State Park Police say Gordon showed a different side after a concert last week by The Dead. Investigators say Gordon -- who calls himself "Cactus" -- was an invited guest backstage at Jones Beach. He was not invited, they say, to take a 9-year-old girl to an isolated location behind the theater.
"The area is actually like a work area for state employees who operate boats out of that area," said Maj. Richard O'Donnell, of the New York State Park Police. "It's a darkened area, not intended for public access."
O'Donnell, who is the region's commanding officer, would not discuss what the bass player told officers when he was found with the child on a dock. But a police report obtained by WNBC-TV reveals "The defendant stated he wanted to take 'art photos' of the victim."
Police confirm that Gordon has never been convicted of any crime. Law enforcement sources said that after the band member was arrested, he told officers, "I may have shown bad judgment, but I am not a pedophile."
The Law enforcement sources identify the girl's father as a leader of the Hell's Angels Motorcycle Club, whom they say had also been invited backstage to watch The Dead concert. Gordon was held for police by theater security "and the victim's father's associates -- which the police report decribes as other Hell's Angels members.
When responding to a request for an interview, Phish's manager e-mailed a joint statement from Gordon and the child's parents that reads: "It is now clear to all involved that this was an unfortunate misunderstanding, and we look forward to putting this matter behind us."
Later, in a conference call, the manager said Gordon's trying to "make amends" with the family. The girl's father added that "muckraking journalists should put the story to rest."
Both declined to discuss whether the musician is paying compensation.
When asked by WNBC-TV if there was any reasonable explanation for Gordon to have been with the girl at 1:00 AM in a secluded boat house, Maj. O'Donnell of the State Park Police said "I have no explanation for it."
The commander says he "absolutely" stands by the police investigation and has referred the bass player's boathouse rendezvous case to the Nassau County district attorney for prosecution.
The DA's office says the evidence is being evaluated. Regardless of whether Gordon has to face a judge next month, law-enforcement sources say unofficial justice was already delivered. The Hell's Angels, who detained Gordon for police, were not, the sources say, gentle with sensitive areas of the rock star's body. |
| 18 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| dan p. |
Posted - 08/24/2003 : 9:43:21 PM
i thought i saw fluffy at the last phish show. right up front. dancing and everything. |
| Miss Sorrel |
Posted - 08/24/2003 : 12:19:09 PM
So Fluffy... you do or you don't like Phish? D'oh. |
| victorwootenfan |
Posted - 08/23/2003 : 10:12:56 PM
hehe...i like phish...;).
Anyway, from what i've read on the phish sites is that it's a big misunderstanding, and that thye weren't all that secluded and they were in plain site of 2 security officers the entire time, and that gordon had been taking pictures of people all day long, and one of them happened to be a little girl. |
| Fluffy |
Posted - 08/23/2003 : 04:57:19 AM
dan p wrote: quote:
if this weren't phish, if this were some band you hated, i think you'd all place the blame squarely and solely on the bass player.
HMMMMM, this is where you are wrong. DEAD WRONG. You will probably be very surprised to find out that I FUCKING DESPISE PHISH. I think they are plague in music and they ruin wonderful Zappa songs TIMe and TIMe again, but don't get me started that is just the tip of the iceberg for why I HATE phish. I just don't talk about it much because I know we have alot of folks on our board who like them. So your argument doesn't hold water. I fucking despise them and I still feel the way I feel. I am not throwing him to the wolves because I know how the press twists things and just because we have heard what they want us to hear doesn't mean we have the whole story. When I read a story like that I try to read between the lines for facts that might help me see the whole picture, cause God knows the press doesn't give it to us. If you go back and reread my post above I think you will see exactly what I am talking about. I refuse to tow the company(the press)line. I am more interested in seeing the bigger picture as I think it is in the best interest of the press to make the story as juicy as possible with no real regard for the actual facts. They seem to pick and choose the facts they tell us to support their "unbiased"(laughing my ass off)version of any given story. Well, for the record, I fucking hate Phish and I still feel that the parents are as responsible for this as the bass player. Maybe more, because they are the ones who are supposed to be responsible for her. The other thing to keep in mind is that in this case the parents are Hells Angels at a concert. Not just your average run of the mill parents. It would seem to me more likely that people would find fault with THESE parents than Joe and Mary Suburbia. AHHH fuck it! I got nothing to say, obviously I am rambling again so I will shut up, You're right, as always, if I didn't like phish SOOOO MUCH I would be crucifing this bass player.(Anyone got a cross, guilty or not, the bass player sounds like a good place to start ridding the world of PHISH who are MY FAVORITE BAND by the way) |
| dan p. |
Posted - 08/23/2003 : 12:32:47 AM
if this weren't phish, if this were some band you hated, i think you'd all place the blame squarely and solely on the bass player.
"misunderstanding." nonsense. he more or less kidnapped the girl. i like phish, but the only person at fault here is gordon. and the hells angels for kicking him in the nuts. there's never a reason to do that. |
| dan p. |
Posted - 08/23/2003 : 12:29:19 AM
if this weren't phish, if this were some band you hated, i think you'd all place the blame squarely and solely on the bass player.
"misunderstanding." nonsense. he more or less kidnapped the girl. i like phish, but the only person at fault here is gordon. and the hells angels for kicking him in the nuts. there's never a reason to do that. |
| Arthen |
Posted - 08/21/2003 : 11:11:52 PM
Yeah, I was wondering about that too Miss Sorrel. Even more so at The Dead concert. |
| Miss Sorrel |
Posted - 08/21/2003 : 10:11:41 PM
Well... if this was just a "misunderstanding" I am sure that Mike Gordon has learned a valuable lesson.... The next time you feel the artsy streak, and it consits of taking photos of a child, you should ask the child, and parents for consent... and then, have the parents present. If he is innocent of things, nobody knows for sure, and could brand him as whatever....
I also think that there's something with father's that when their little girls get mistreated, they get this crazed adrenalin rush and could become the eqivillant of a Hell's Angel, even if he seems like Mr. Cleaver... On that note though... What decent parent let's their 9-year-old out of supervision (their's or another responsible adult's) at a concert? |
| Arthen |
Posted - 08/19/2003 : 6:07:03 PM
I think that's the context we were using. |
| dan p. |
Posted - 08/19/2003 : 5:56:26 PM
he isn't "innocent." he took a 9 year old from a family, and the hells angels. he is innocent of any sort of sexual misconduct, if that's what you mean. |
| Arthen |
Posted - 08/19/2003 : 5:40:48 PM
He's just a person that doesn't stop to think through about things when he gets creative ideas, not that that's a good excuse for doing strange and seemingly "wrong" things.
Personally, I always try to avoid situations that can be misconstrewed. Especially when it comes to being around younger children, as I work in my mom's 2nd grade class room on a semi regular basis. |
| Zachmozach |
Posted - 08/19/2003 : 5:34:19 PM
Yeah Mike seems like a bit of a weird guy so it seems like this whole thing wouldn't be out of the ball park.
|
| victorwootenfan |
Posted - 08/19/2003 : 5:20:40 PM
I know, i like phish, you know i like phish, but with all the stuff i've read or seen or heard about mike gordon, i think he really was trying to take photos. He has these concepts and ideas that he goes through, like directing his own movies, and writing stories from a scewed point of view, or photography. I think he's innocent, but it just looks bad. |
| Zachmozach |
Posted - 08/19/2003 : 5:12:30 PM
Definatly Fluffy I totally agree you'd have to be a real dumbshit to do anything like that. I'm always concerned that the media is blowing stories up a little but the fact that he had the motives to take art photos doesn't look good. I guess I'm going to have to start learning all Phish's bass lines because if anything comes of this maybe Mike will be taken out by the angels and phish will need a replacement. That's when I step in. No j/k hehe. Hopefully things are not as they seem for phish's sake because I wouldn't be able to replace him nor anyone they've been playing for so long together it would just be weird to see a replacement. |
| Fluffy |
Posted - 08/19/2003 : 4:28:32 PM
Whatever happened, it seems to me you have to be a real dumbshit to disappear with a 9 year old daughter of the head of the local chapter of the Hells Angels. In my opinion, you deserve what you get. Doesn't sound like the bass player is the sharpest tack in the box. Again, I am not saying he did anything WRONG with the girl as I wasn't there, but it just seems like bad judgement to disappear with a 9 year old girl, especially one belonging to the Hells Angels. Pretty freaking stupid if you ask me!(and you didn't hehe)It is interesting to not that in the police report it said: quote:
"The defendant stated he wanted to take 'art photos' of the victim."
Which would indicate to me that something was going on, by the bass players own admission. Seems they weren't just walking around together, he had ulterior motives. Maybe that was his intention but was caught before anything could happen, who knows. Bottom line is it's a matter for the family, the police and the DA, and in this case, I would be more afraid of "the family" and their "associates" than I would of the police or the DA. If he did do something inappropriate, he would be lucky to get off with jail TIMe and/or a fine versus what could be awaiting him at the hands of the family. |
| dan p. |
Posted - 08/19/2003 : 4:03:17 PM
hahahahaha. owned. |
| Zachmozach |
Posted - 08/19/2003 : 2:52:18 PM
It sounds a little bit like the media making more of a story out of it than what really went on. I'd like to hear an explaination of what went on from Mike but the fact that the girls father wanted the media to put the story to rest makes me think that this is in some way skewed from what really happened. It sounds like the Hell's Angels took care of everything okay. If anything really happened then I think Mike would have lost his private areas not just had them mistreated. |
| Arthen |
Posted - 08/19/2003 : 2:14:29 PM
Whoa...
That's insane. Man, I'd shit myself if I was in the "custody" of the Hell's Angels. |
|
|
