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Convicted Sex Offender Attends Aki Con 2013 Event As Guest DJ

Volunteer DJ Victor Malice aka Leslie B. Shotwell was a guest at the Aki Con 2013 event in SeaTac, Washington on October 25-27. Shotwell is a convicted sex offender in the state of Arizona. According to court records, he was convicted in 2001 of sexual conduct with a minor, attempting to commit sexual conduct with a minor, and dangerous crimes against children. Shotwell was found guilty in 2006 and sentenced to six years in prison, but was released in 2010.

Shotwell is not currently registered in the United States National Sex Offender database. His Victor Malice Productions Facebook page has been taken down.

A young woman who was a cosplay guest at Aki Con 2013 created a video that was then posted by a third party on YouTube, which alleged that Shotwell drugged and raped her in a hotel room during the weekend of the convention. According to Washington's King County jail records, Shotwell was arrested for rape on October 30, but was let out on conditional release on October 31. He was denied bail. Shotwell appeared in King County court on October 31.

Aki Con released a statement regarding the incident on its Facebook page on December 2, but the post was later deleted.

Aki Con staff have released the following statement to Anime News Network:

We are inclined not to comment further as we do not know anything other than there was a serious situation between the two parties. As we have said we are the one's who told both parties to notify the police. Since then we have not been contacted by either party or the police. This is a very sad situation and Aki Con will not be party to any speculation on what happened as this is a police matter. Also since the situation happened in a private hotel room, Aki Con has no control over what happens in a private room. Aki Con works very hard to constantly check the convention area for any issues and the hotel provides security in the public areas of the convention.

There are a number of rumors being spread around about this alleged incident but here are few facts.
First Shotwell, Leslie B was not hired by Aki Con, we didn't pay him, he was not an employee, executive or in anyway paid by Aki Con.

He had performed at Everfree just days before Aki Con, he is a registered member of Sakura-Con, he performed at Mew Con and Kuronekocon most of these this year and volunteered and assisted in a number of other anime/geek related events around the Northwest. Though some of these other conventions and events did hire him, Aki Con did not. As far as we know most conventions do not conduct background checks, maybe because it illegal without the subjects permission and even if they did federal law prohibits discrimination based on past felonies. We must be careful to treat others with the same respect we would wish due us and not spread non factual information.

Shotwell is not listed as a guest on the Sakura-Con website, but a cached version of his Victor Malice Facebook page has the following statement on March 30: "Sakura-Con: The 'rule-screwer' is arriving at Sakura-Con in a few minutes; be sure to check out the 'We Love Yu-Gi-Oh!' panel in room 4C-1 to hear me play and enjoy some awesome cosplayers/characters (and quite possibly a special guest, also... )!"

ANN was able to confirm his attendance at Everfree 2013 and Kuronekocon 2013.

Federal law does not prohibit discrimination for employment or a volunteer position based on a criminal background, while some states do bar felons from working within certain industries such as the medical field, like Texas. Organizations need only prove that discrimination based on criminal background is not rooted in racial discrimination and prove that choosing not to hire a convicted criminal is based on a business necessity. Felons are not considered a protected class in regards to employment discrimination, and can be barred from voting per Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution.

[Via Addicting Info]