Renaissance Festival director accused of rape on event grounds
Five employees at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival, including two managers, have resigned after the event’s artistic director was accused of raping a freelance photographer at the site last fall.
Carr Leon Hagerman, 60, was charged in June with two counts of criminal sexual conduct after a freelance photographer told authorities he lured her during an event in late September to an upstairs storage room on the Scott County Fairgrounds under the guise of finding a good location to take photos, the Star Tribune reported.
Hagerman, according to a criminal complaint, took the woman to a drum storage room, where he noticed a pink ribbon on her wrist and became enraged. The ribbon, according to the woman’s attorney, was worn by a group of female workers at the festival who called themselves the “Order of the Garter” and sought to raise awareness of sexual harassment and abuse in the aftermath of the national #MeToo movement.
Hagerman ripped off the ribbon and slammed the woman’s head against a wall while calling her a “bitch” and a “whore,” according to the complaint. Hagerman then took “some sort of pill,” the victim alleged, before forcing her to perform oral sex on him until she vomited.
“I will do whatever I want with you,” Hagerman told the woman as he beat and raped her, according to the complaint. “You are my piece of meat.”
Hagerman also allegedly threatened to kill the woman and “destroy” her life if she reported the rape to authorities. She eventually blacked out and went to the police more than a month later, according to the Star Tribune.
Hagerman denied the assault and was released from jail after posting $100,000 bail. But the investigation into the alleged rape has led to the exodus of Anita Kelling, a former entertainment director who temporarily replaced Hagerman, and the event’s director of safety services. Three members of the security director’s team have also resigned, the Star Tribune reports.
“People can read what they want into it,” Bo Beller, director of business and legal affairs at Mid-America Festivals Inc., told the newspaper. “But I don’t believe that it is directly related to the Carr situation.”
Security director Bob Kinsman cited health issues in his resignation letter. Kelling, who did not disclose a reason for resigning, did not return a message seeking comment, according to the Star Tribune.
Beller said the festival – now in its 48th year – will go on as planned starting on Aug. 18.
Hagerman, meanwhile, has been on paid suspension since November. Minneapolis attorney John Klassen, who represents Hagerman’s accuser in the criminal case, as well as other festival workers who allege Hagerman targeted them as well, said he found that to be “disturbing” given the allegations against him.
In addition to his managerial duties, Hagerman has been a lead performer at the fair for nearly four decades and is best known for portraying a 17th-century character called the “Rat Catcher” who taunts visitors at the interactive outdoor festival.