Yesterday (December 1st), a video started being passed around called “My Story”. The video has now been set as private, but it talked about how a person at Aki Con 2013, was sexually assaulted by a DJ that Aki Con hired. The DJ in question is Leslie Shotwell (used to go by the name Victor Malice), and with a simple google search, you can find his mugshot, and his criminal record. According to Mugshots.com, he had been charged with:
1. Having sexual relations with a child under the age of 18.
2. Attempting to have sex with child under age 18.
3. Dangerous crimes against children
The fact that Aki Con does not conduct background checks, let alone simple Google checks on people they hire is simply idiotic. People want to feel safe at conventions and it’s Aki Con’s responsibility to provide a safe area for con goers.
Leslie has since taken down his DJ page on Facebook and many people who were friends with him have deleted him. One con goer writes, “I didn’t know him very well, but I was FB-friends with him up until tonight when I learned about all this. I hung out with him at a couple gatherings & he even drove me to ECCC. If other people who are hearing about this story are currently friends (or at least FB-friends) with him, then they really NEED to know who he is. If someone wants to know when they & their kids are hanging out with a convicted child-rapist, then they have every right to know. To conceal his identity only puts more people in danger.”
Aki Con has posted an update about the whole situation and will most likely not comment further on it:
After Aki Con’s bad choices last year, and what’s coming to light from this years Aki Con, people are upset and “done” with Aki Con. We here at Elite Cosplay have to agree with those people. We gave Aki Con another chance this year and just weren’t impressed with it. Now that more awful things are coming out of Aki Con 2013, we highly suggest that con goers do not go to Aki Con 2014.