Lake County investigating abuse allegations against former Ravinia director
The Lake County state's attorney's office is investigating allegations that renowned conductor James Levine sexually abused a teenager during his tenure as music director of the Ravinia Festival.
In a report initially filed to the Lake Forest Police Department, a man, now 48, claims Levine molested him multiple times starting when he was 16. State's Attorney Mike Nerheim said Sunday his office took over the case last week and is "in the process of reviewing it."
The man's account was among multiple sexual misconduct allegations that caused the Metropolitan Opera to suspend its relationship with 74-year-old Levine, its music director emeritus, pending an investigation, Met leaders announced Sunday in a Facebook post. The accusations spanned from the 1960s to the 1980s, the post says, and included an early part of his conducting career at the Met, where Levine spent 40 years as its music director.
Levine also served as music director at Ravinia from 1973 to 1993 and held similar roles at the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Munich Philharmonic.
"While we await the results of the investigation, based on these new news reports, the Met has made the decision to act now," said Peter Gelb, the Met's general manager, noting his actions are supported by the Met board. "This is a tragedy for anyone whose life has been affected."
Levine will not conduct any performances this season or be involved in any Met activities, the statement says.
Levine's suspension follows the Met's announcement Saturday that its leaders would be working with outside resources to conduct their own probe into the allegations, which they have known about for more than a year.
"This first came to the Met's attention when the Illinois police investigation was opened in October 2016," Gelb said in an earlier statement. "At the time, Mr. Levine said that the charges were completely false, and we relied upon the further investigation of the police."
The alleged victim told Lake Forest police the abuse began in 1985 and continued for years, even after he turned 18. Levine used to arrange to meet him for dinner, the man said, but would instead take him to his hotel room near Ravinia, where Levine would ask him to remove his clothes, fondle his penis and masturbate in front of him.
Levine gave the man financial gifts amounting to about $50,000, he told police, but the encounters left him confused, unhappy and almost drove him to suicide.
The New York Post was the first to publish the man's account, followed by The New York Times and several other publications over the weekend.
Levine, who is often in a wheelchair, has suffered from ill health for several years and was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2006. He recently finished conducting the last of four performances of Verdi's "Requiem" at the Met, and was previously scheduled to conduct the company's new "Tosca," which runs from New Year's Eve through May.
Levine's management did not respond to requests for comment.
• Daily Herald wire services contributed to this report.