Director accused of attacking aspiring actresses

Joseph Brooks wrote Oscar-winning song ‘You Light Up My Life’

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updated 11:03 p.m. ET Jan. 12, 2009

NEW YORK - At least four women have accused the Academy Award-winning songwriter of "You Light Up My Life" of luring them to his home and sexually assaulting them while they auditioned for movie roles, police said.

Police were investigating whether director Joseph Brooks, who won an Oscar for Best Original Song for the 1977 Debby Boone ballad, advertised upcoming film roles on Internet postings as a ploy to assault women.

When a woman responded to an audition call, Brooks would tell her she'd be playing a prostitute and would have her drink shots and perform sex acts on him, police said. Some women believe they might have been drugged, police said.

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At least four incidents are alleged to have happened in March and May 2008, police spokesman John Sweeney said. One woman told authorities she had sex with Brooks after drinking wine with him, Sweeney said.

Another woman, from Seattle, said she responded to an ad and, after she arrived in New York, Brooks demanded she have sex with him, Sweeney said. Another woman told police Brooks sodomized her, Sweeney said.

Brooks, 70, hasn't been charged, Sweeney said.

Telephone calls to Brooks' attorney, Jeff Hoffman, weren't immediately returned Monday. There was no telephone listing for Brooks at the Manhattan home address provided by police.

Brooks also wrote and directed the romantic comedy "You Light Up My Life," for which the song was composed. The movie stars Didi Conn as Laurie Robinson, a comedian who dreams of being an actress and has a one-night stand with a director.