A Broadway Producer, whose first big show was set to debut a few years ago before it was cancelled, has been arrested on child pornography charges.
Ben Sprecher, 65, was charged with possession and distribution of child pornography, the Associated Press reports. While he was released on $100,000 bail, he is warned to avoid unsupervised contact with children. According to Peter C. Fitzhugh, the head of the New York office of Homeland Security Investigations, Sprecher made more than 100 files involving children available for downloading. Electronic files received from his computer showed a 46-minute video of a pre-teen girl performing sex acts with an adult male.
“Sexualizing young children is unconscionable and this Office and our law enforcement partners will continue to utilize all of the expertise and resources available to shine a light on every dark corner where it is produced, shared, and possessed,” U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York said of the report.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Samuel Rothschild told a magistrate judge that Sprecher had been engaging in this type of online activity for a while, and during a search of his home earlier this week, detectives found that Sprecher had files since last October. He admitted to possessing these files.
Sprecher was set to make his big-break in 2012 as the lead producer of the $12 million Broadway show Rebecca, but the musical never made it to the stage. A stockbrocker, who had gone back on his financial promises, admitted that he’d purposely swindled the producers. He is best-known as a producer for shows A Moon for the Misbegotten, American Buffalo, and the Tony Award-nominee Fortune’s Fool. He’s also worked as a theater owner and manager who built venues like the Promenade Theatre and Little Shubert Theatre.
