Striegel said he did not have to audition for his part in the movie. “The character I played was named after a mutual friend of ours, and it seemed a good fit,” he wrote in an email.
“I've known Shane Black 14 years, well before this incident, and I think it's worth noting that he was aware of the facts,” Striegel said. “Shane can speak for himself, but I'm quite certain that if he felt I was a danger in any way to have around, he would not have.”
In emails to The Times, Striegel described her as one of his “distant relatives” who spoke to him at “several family gatherings” about “a multitude of problems she was facing, including being a truant, being pressured to do drugs and alcohol, and that she had started having sex, as well as many other things.”
In an attempt to boost her self-esteem, Striegel said he “made the the very bad judgement call of telling her in these emails that she was attractive, and sexy, and not a failure, etc.” He said he made it clear the two could not engage in a romantic relationship because of her age and because they were related.
But a March 2009 arrest warrant affidavit — which identifies the 14-year-old only as “Jane Doe” — alleges that physical contact included “kissing, touching Doe’s breast over her clothing, rubbing her legs and stroking her neck” on several occasions.
In one email message, Striegel told the girl that there was no one in the world he would rather have sex with. “I will be VERY honest: There’s no question that it’s you. None. Hope that doesn’t totally freak you out, and just because it’s what I want, and what you want, doesn’t mean it’s the right thing.”
In other correspondence, he described his sexual preferences in graphic detail, including his favorite intercourse position and intimate grooming practices.
“EVERY thing you say turns me on!!” he wrote to Doe. “I love that it rocked you when I pulled your hair that time.”
Further, Striegel cautioned the girl not to tell anyone about their clandestine relationship. “I know it might be hard for you to not tell someone, as it’s something on your mind I’m sure, but pleeease try to keep it between us ...”
The girl’s father discovered their correspondence and forbade them from talking. Still, the affidavit said, Striegel gave her a private number to call him on.
Though he lived in New York at the time, he was charged in Connecticut, where the girl lived.
Although the warrant alleged physical contact, Striegel called that claim “groundless.” “Nothing supported such a claim, and no charges in that regard were even filed. The only thing I was ever charged with were words in an email,” he told The Times..
