AMBER LOVE 28-JAN-2013 One of the founders of the epic comic, sci-fi, fantasy and costume conventions DRAGON*CON is Ed Kramer, a man that for over 12 years had eluded jail time for child molestation charges despite having several allegations brought against him. This is not where I’m going to say D*C is a bad organization or at fault for the actions of a grown man. In fact, it seems to be common knowledge that the other share owners of Dragon*Con have been trying for years to get rid of Kramer from their corporate structure. They can’t. Â This story is resurfacing because Kramer was just arrested again and creators like Stephen R. Bissette and Nancy A. Collins want the public to stop fueling this man’s lifestyle. Kramer is finally in Gwinnett jail after being a relatively free man because of medical conditions.
There are speculations around the blogosphere that Dragon*Con is tied to Kramer forever. The other owners would need to dissolve the corporate entity and make a new one which would then mean legal red tape to get the rights to the name and branding back of Dragon*Con. I personally, have no idea what the hold up could be. Just do it. Do whatever it takes to sever every single tie with Kramer. He makes money year after year from his shares in the convention. Money that he puts towards his legal defense to fight serving time for the child molestation charges by using a medical defense. When this started, he managed to evade the charges for years because he took off for the sanctuary in Connecticut. Why would extradition from one state to another take as long as it does if the man was in South America? This is not acceptable.
Now it’s January 2013, over a decade after the original charges and Kramer was arrested again – this time for violating his probation. Even while under house arrest, this man made money off of participants in Dragon*Con!
“He was able to fight extradition for years because he was deemed physically incapable to withstand trial. He quit his job with DragonCon around the same time he was arrested in 2000. He’s now being held without bond in Atlanta and is expected to face child molestation charges.” ~Huffington Post, January 22, 2013
Whether Kramer is at the convention personally, at the meetings making decisions or not there in any capacity, he’s cashing his checks from all the shares he owns in Dragon*Con. If this was some company like a fast food chain, software conglomerate, or a Hollywood celebrity this wouldn’t fly. Have people already forgotten about the tarnish SESAME STREET received when the Elmo actor Kevin Clash faced three or four civil lawsuits (no criminal charges) for being sexually involved with teenagers?
And here’s one of the most recent examples of how I see the public being selective in the argument that is often shouted: BUT WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDREN?
In California, a high school biology teacher named Stacie Halas lost her job because she used to be a porn star. She appealed and lost the right to get her job back. No one ever argued that she was a bad teacher. No one before the story broke ever said she was teaching pornography to students. There had never been any complaints about her until someone found out who she used to be which was a legal adult star in movies with other legal adult stars.
She has lost her ability to teach, to earn a paycheck doing something she has the training, degrees and experience to do well. But when the word got out that she used to be in the adult industry, she lost everything including her paycheck and reputation. Of course she’ll have her own legal fees to deal with now. Admonishing something a woman did legally but allowing Kramer to avoid jail time for molesting children is disgraceful.
With Kramer, the fight is not over just because he quit his job with Dragon*Con around 2000 when the first allegations surfaced. He’s still a shareholder. Reports say they can’t get rid of him because they’d have to dissolve the Dragon*Con company – How are those of you attending and participating okay with this?
Dissolve it! Form a new company! What is the problem? Companies evolve all the time. Before there was Verizon, there was Bell Telephone! Companies change.
Founder and Editor-in-Chief of AmberUnmasked.com and Vodka O'Clock Podcast. Author of The Farrah Wethers Mysteries, comic book short stories, prose, and non-fiction. Cosplayer and figure model.