Disney Music Exec Suspended After Child Sex Abuse Charges Filed
A Disney music executive has been charged with three felony accounts of child sexual abuse.
Jonathan Blake Heely, Disney’s director of music publishing since 2000, was arraigned December 7 on charges of lewd and lascivious acts involving two children, according to a spokesperson for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office.
According to the felony complaint, the sexual assaults began, in a case involving one girl, in 2004, when she was 15 years old, and continued through August 2005. Heely, 58, is accused of abusing a second victim over the course of four years, from June 2006 through 2010. The alleged assaults began when she was 11.
Disney did not respond to multiple requests seeking comment, however it told our sister site Variety, “Immediately upon learning of the situation tonight, he has been suspended without pay until the matter is resolved by the courts.”
Heely is expected back in court on January 10 for the setting of his preliminary hearing.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Heely appears to have spent his entire professional career with Disney, working in its music publishing group for the past 28 years.
Heely’s Twitter profile contains a slogan: Disney Concerts and living to glorify God.
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