ANN ARBOR, MI -- The attorney for a prominent University of Michigan opera professor and his husband, who are accused of the 2010 drugging and rape of a 23-year-old man in Houston, says the victim is lying for attention.
David Daniels, a famous opera singer and University of Michigan professor since 2015, and his husband, William A. Scott Walters, a music conductor, are each charged with second-degree felony assault of an adult in Harris County, Texas. If convicted, they face between two and 20 years in prison.
Ann Arbor police arrested the couple separately in Ann Arbor on Tuesday, Jan. 29. They are in the Washtenaw County Jail awaiting likely extradition to Texas. Should Daniels and Walters fight extradition, the process to get a court order for transfer could take up to 90 days, said Kim Bryant, head of the Harris County District Attorney’s Office Fugitive Apprehension Section.
The couple were investigated by the Houston Police Department after Samuel Schultz, a baritone singer based in Houston, alleged in a story published by the New York Daily News on Aug. 22 that Daniels and Walters drugged and raped him following a Houston opera performance in 2010.
“David and Scott are innocent of any wrongdoing,” said Matt Hennessy, the Houston-based attorney representing the couple. "Sam Schultz is not a victim. He never would have gotten this much attention from his singing, and he knows and resents that fact.
"He waited eight years to complain about adult, consensual sex to ride the #MeToo movement to unearned celebrity. We will fight this.”
There is a 10-year statute of limitations for second-degree felony sexual assault charges in Texas. The Schultz declined to comment for this story.
Daniels is also named in a federal civil lawsuit filed by former student Andrew Lipian, who claims he was invited over to Daniels' apartment to watch “Ru Paul’s Drag Race” in March 2017 and was sexually assaulted after being given bourbon and tricked into taking sleep medication.
Daniels called Lipian’s allegations “fake and malicious" in a counter claim filed in December.
The UM professor was also accused of sexual misconduct by another student in March 2018. The anonymous student claimed Daniels offered to pay him for sex over Grindr, a phone application designed to facilitate sexual encounters. Pittsfield police investigated the matter, but found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing.
The UM Board of Regents voted to give Daniels tenure in May 2018, less than two months after the e anonymous complaint.
University of Michigan spokeswoman Kim Broekhuizen declined to comment on Daniels' arrest and confirmed he is on paid leave.
“We will continue to closely monitor the situation as we determine the appropriate next steps. ,” she said.
Daniels took paid leave in August after the 2010 Houston rape allegations became public.