Breaking: Two weeks ago, @20thcenturyfox deleted a scene from "The Predator" featuring a registered sex offender, Steven Wilder Striegel. Striegel was cast by his longtime friend, director Shane Black, who has put the actor in three of his films. latimes.com/entertainment/…
Fox decided to delete the scene after being informed of Striegel's background by actress @oliviamunn, who was in the scene with him. Fox says it was not aware that Striegel was a sex offender when he was hired, but Black acknowledges he was.
"I believed he was caught up in a bad situation versus something lecherous. And while I personally chose to help a friend, I can understand others might disapprove, as his conviction was on a sensitive charge and not to be taken lightly," Black said.
Striegel served six months in jail after pleading guilty to two felonies — risk of injury to a child and enticing a minor by computer. He said he engaged in an e-mail relationship with a 14-year-old girl who was one of his "distant relatives."
Because she was troubled, Striegel said, he tried to boost her self-esteem and “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 according to a 2009 arrest warrant, 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," Striegel wrote to the girl, per the affidavit. "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.”
Striegel told The Times: “If I had even an inkling that my involvement with ‘The Predator’ would be a point of difficulty for Shane Black, or cast any kind of shadow over a movie that I wish only great success for, I would, of course, never have been involved in any capacity."
There are paparazzi pictures of Striegel (in the red jacket) and Munn filming "The Predator" here. justjared.com/2017/02/20/oli…
