Chapter 1: What charges did Craig McLachlan face in relation to C3?
He's my hot dog. He's our frankenfurter. And he's about to rock your world in Rocky Horror. Short enough. Maybe even just something like, you know, he's a dim star. He has clout. You know, we wouldn't be listened to or we think we'd be listened to. Yeah, and I think before you said that you felt that... Yeah, okay. Okay.
I guess we all felt that his star power and his influence was more valuable and more important than us. Perfect. On January the 8th, 2018, a story broke across every media outlet in Australia. Christy Whelan-Brown, Erica Haynatz and Angela Scundi, cast members of the 2014 Rocky Horror Show, went to the press, alleging that actor Craig McLaughlin was calculated, manipulative and a predator.
Chapter 2: What evidence did the police present to justify the charges?
and that they had been the victims of bullying, harassment, and indecent assault whilst working on the 2014 production of the Rocky Horror Show. Not guilty. The Craig McLachlan case. Episode 6. He's my hot dog. For editorial and legal reasons, the names of Craig's accusers and witnesses of this matter have been changed.
Hello, my name is Vanessa Scammell, and in Episode 6, I will concentrate on the criminal charges that were laid against Craig McLachlan by the Victorian Police in relation to the cast member known as C-3 Scammer. Again, I will concentrate on the following questions in relation to the charges laid against Craig McLachlan.
1. What evidence did the police present and the DPP therefore rely upon to lay charges? 2. Was there enough evidence for the DPP to obtain a conviction, therefore lay charges? 3. What evidence presented by C-3 hasn't been discussed or made public? 4. Was C-3 a credible witness?
Chapter 3: Was there sufficient evidence for a conviction in Craig's case?
5. What evidence given by Craig and other prosecution witnesses has been obscured or ignored in relation to the charge?
And lastly, I will look at certain rulings and commentary from the presiding magistrate that did not represent the events that took place in the courtroom. And furthermore, the magistrate's seeming unwillingness to accept that Craig's accusers were eager participants in the backstage culture of the 2014 Rocky Horror Show.
Why was it that what was not good for the goose was more than okay for the gander? On January 11, 2019, a total of three charges were laid against Craig McLachlan in relation to his colleague C3. Let's go to the first charge.
Charge 4. Craig McLachlan was charged with indecent assault for kissing the mouth of C3 in her dressing room. Six months after this initial charge was laid, the prosecution added an alternative charge of common assault, making it a total of two charges for the same allegation.
Victorian Police Particulars of Allegations That in the comedy theatre in Melbourne, Craig entered the dressing room as C3 was applying her make-up. He told her to stop the make-up. That he knelt down and told her how enchanted he was with her. Witness Evidence
The vocal coach who had worked with C3, post-Rocky Horror Show 2014, claimed that C3 told her that Craig had grabbed her face whilst on stage and that she had been scared and felt unsafe. Headlines
The police relied on the evidence of the vocal coach when laying charges, yet the vocal coach didn't appear in court, nor was the vocal coach ever mentioned during the matter. The evidence the police and prosecution relied upon was not referenced. The alleged indecent assault was for a one-second closed-mouth kiss. This was not disputed by C3 or Craig McLaughlin.
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Chapter 4: How did the magistrate view the credibility of the complainants?
At no time during the Rocky Horror Show of 2014 had C3 made a complaint about Craig, nor had she mentioned to Craig that she had a problem with him. C3 did make one formal complaint, but it was not about Craig. It was about her colleague C1 in relation to what became known as the dressing room feud.
The background and relationship between C3 and Craig McLachlan.
On the Rocky Horror Show of 2014, this cast member shared a collegiate and friendly relationship with Craig McLachlan. C3 would visit Craig's dressing room, invite him for Sunday night drinks and would engage in jokey, fun banter throughout the run of the show.
She was not an experienced music theatre performer and had joined the Rocky Horror Show production having only appeared in one other professional theatre show, Throughout the show, she had experienced difficulties with her vocal production and had sought professional help to assist her vocal technique.
Years later, in her interviews with the press, she blamed Craig for her vocal problems, problems that had begun very early in the tour.
Let's go to court. C3 was physically demonstrative and ostensibly affectionate from the start. Over the run of the show, she hugged and kissed Craig countless times in a theatrical manner, and she happily indulged in vulgar by-play with Craig, with comments such as, She had no friends in the cast, particularly with the female cast members.
At the beginning of the Rocky Horror Show tour of 2014, C3 posted an image of Craig and herself, her arm slung around his neck with a caption referencing a line from the show.
He's my hot dog. He's our frankenfurter. And he's about to rock your world in Rocky Horror.
And then, in April, when the show had just finished the Adelaide season, another social media post was published by C3, this time featuring the two of them in a mock kissing pose with the caption... To further demonstrate the friendship between C3 and Craig, I'd like to mention an image that exists where she is sitting on Craig's lap, straddling his thigh, hands resting on said thigh.
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Chapter 5: What backstage culture existed during the 2014 Rocky Horror Show?
Every environment that we walked into, the publicity work, was a lot of fun because he'd played the role before. We had a fine relationship, very friendly, very businesslike. He was very professional. He did a lot of the storytelling. My relationship with him was very much about me supporting him and promoting him in the lead role.
There was plenty of physical contact between us in the show, also physical contact in publicity appearances. The show and all the talk around it was very heightened and sexualised. As a concept, it celebrates sexuality. The content and theme affected the show's culture. The frankenfurter character played by Craig is really raunchy, provocative. has a lot of ego.
Craig was very facile with the character. The cast were all stumbling around, sitting naked in fishnets. That became part of the backstage culture. I had no problem with the heavy sexual emphasis. I was enthusiastic about it.
And this from a senior female management figure. What I saw of the backstage shenanigans were of a gleeful and consensual nature from all parties concerned. And this from Craig.
C3 would engage in these vampire kisses during the run of the show. She would bite or kiss people's necks or make out she was about to as part of a shtick.
To add to this, during the court case, a witness statement was read out. It was from a crew member who worked on Home and Away post-Rocky Horror Show with the actor C3. This crew member spoke of an occasion that whilst in the makeup room on set, she and C3 had a friendly chat, discovering that they both knew Craig.
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Chapter 6: How did the behavior of C3 and Craig impact the allegations?
They shared friendly and fun stories of their experiences with him. And in the statement, the crew member said she recalled her saying words to the following effect. I just love Craig. We had so much fun on the Rocky Horror Show. We were so naughty. It was the best gig, so wild. During the proceedings, C3 agreed that she had said words to this effect. Yet the magistrate wrote that...
C3 also told police in Melbourne that when asked by the Rocky Horror Show producers to return for an extended leg of the tour in 2017, that she had expressed her interest in returning but had made no suggestion about it being conditional on Craig McLaughlin being out of the show. In other words, she was quite happy to consider the job knowing Craig was already cast.
Now, let's go to C3's evidence-in-chief in relation to the alleged closed-mouth dressing room kiss.
The following excerpts are re-enactments using material from publicly disclosed materials, descriptions of the prosecutor and rulings of the magistrate.
In Melbourne, Craig had said he needed to speak to me about something very important. He came when I was doing my makeup. He sat on the dresser to my left and asked me to stop making up because what he had to say was important. I stopped and turned my chair to face him.
Then he knelt so that our faces were at the same level. He said, I think you're beautiful. I can't stop thinking about you. I am falling for you. I had become increasingly enchanted by you. He said, there's something I've got to do. And he took my face in his hands and kissed me on the lips. Not aggressively. It was just a kiss. It was brief.
Someone, I believe it was my dresser, knocked on the door and he jumped up and heamed behind the door and disappeared down the corridor as they entered. There had never been any indication of romantic interest in me before this. Note well, her dresser, or who C3 believed to be her dresser, was not called as a witness.
nor did her dresser give a statement to the Victorian Police in relation to this allegation. In the initial allegations that were published back in January of 2018, the press led its readers to believe that Craig made a sexual advance towards C3, that he went to her room purely to declare his love for her, tell her how beautiful she was, to kiss her, to assault her.
But to understand yet again the context of Craig's visit to the dressing room, to make the picture complete, to make sure all the details have been heard and processed, it is crucial to address what became known as the dressing room feud. During the Perth season of the Rocky Horror Show, which was early on in the tour,
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Chapter 7: What were the magistrate's final rulings on the case?
During the Rocky Horror Show of 2014, it became plain that C-1 had bullied and victimized C-3 because she wanted a dressing room to herself. Not only is that of the highest relevance to understanding the role Craig took on in trying to mollify both parties, but it also epitomizes the character of C-1, a picture she did not wish the court to see.
During the season, C1 would go to Craig's dressing room and disparage C3. This continued until the end of the tour. This was not denied in court.
C1 and C3 had a feud over a dressing room in Perth, though the feud was mostly from C1's side. C3 wasn't as nasty. C1 said C3 was a talentless tranny, a garbage c***, and that she had man hands. I didn't take sides. C3 was upset and hurt. I attempted to comfort her.
Let's go to Craig's evidence.
C3 was physically demonstrative and ostensibly affectionate from the start. His denial was unchallenged in cross-examination. Her physical contact with Craig did not change over the run, including Melbourne. This evidence was unchallenged in cross. There was no dispute about the dressing room kiss. It was part of, and utterly consistent with, Craig's encouragement and support.
The kiss had no sexual connotation. His denial was unchallenged in cross-examination. C3 had been bullied by C1, almost to the point of C3 giving up the show. This evidence was unchallenged. Voice failing, she confided in Craig McLachlan and, later, he visited her dressing room. This evidence was unchallenged in Cross. Craig McLachlan's conduct was to give her comfort, words and an embrace.
In the theatre culture, Craig McLachlan's words were unexceptional and insignificant. There was no sexual connotation to their contact. This evidence was unchallenged. Craig McLachlan did not hide. C3's evidence cannot be true due to the physical impossibility of this. His denial was unchallenged in Cross. C3 was victimized by C1, beginning with the dressing room feud.
This evidence was unchallenged. Craig McLachlan made considerable efforts to support her generally. For example, buying medication. And with encouragement concerning C1's bullying, this evidence was unchallenged.
The following is a re-enactment of Craig's court evidence, collated through court notes and evidence preparation.
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Chapter 8: What conclusions can be drawn about the evidence and charges against Craig?
Indecent assault for kissing the neck of C3 in Melbourne during the 2014 Rocky Horror Show.
In June 2019, not content with this charge, the DPP added an extra component using the description that he had straddled his groin and making that into another separate charge. So now there were two separate charges. He had straddled his groin. You may think I've made an error in reading this charge out loud, but this is what the original charge sheet read.
On top of that, they also added two alternative charges of common assault to each of the now two charges, making the initial singular charge into four separate charges. The charges were now the following.
Charge 15, indecent and common assault for straggling his groin in her lap. Charge 13, indecent and common assault for kissing her neck. Victorian police particulars of allegations. That in the green room of the comedy theatre in Melbourne, Craig kissed C3's neck. That C3 was sitting on a couch. That there were other people around. That he straddled her on the couch. Me's either side of her.
He kissed the side of her neck three times. He leaned back and said, Too much? She said, Yes. He got off and walked off. Witness Evidence Female Crew Member That three weeks before the end of the tour, she saw C3 on a couch and that Craig was straddling her with his face right in her face. She assumed he was trying to kiss her.
A male ensemble cast member recalled Craig straddling C3 on the couch, but didn't remember anything more.
C3 also named another member of the Rocky Horror Show company as being present at the time of the assault, but in this cast member's police statement, he had no recollection of any such incident and he was not called by the prosecution to appear in court. C3 clearly stated that... And she thought that if it was this cast member who was sitting next to her...
Yet no one sitting near her saw anything that happened. Seeing that the police relied on two eyewitnesses to this alleged assault, let's see what happened when these prosecution witnesses gave their evidence in open court.
Let's go to court.
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