A prominent music executive is under intense scrutiny as two women have come forward with serious rape allegations, claiming they were drugged at his luxurious $6.55 million Joshua Tree mansion in California.
Scott Leonard, 59, a self-described former artist manager and major-label record executive, owns the distinctive cliffside Kellogg Doolittle home, known for hosting celebrity-filled events, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The accusations come from model and writer Courtney Barriger, 36, and Australian musician Jamie-Lee Dimes, 35. Both women have shared harrowing accounts of their experiences at Leonard’s home, where they allege he drugged them. Despite these claims, Leonard has not been charged, as reported by the Times. Both women have reported their experiences to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.
“This has been one of the worst times in my life. If this is what I have to tolerate to have a career in music, I would rather speak up,” Dimes told the Los Angeles Times, expressing her distress.
Dimes, who filed a police report, detailed an alleged rape by Leonard after meeting him in August 2022. She explained that she was introduced to Leonard, who claimed to have worked in artist development at Virgin Records America, through mutual friends. He later invited her to his home to discuss her music career.
“The fact that I met him in Joshua Tree, where it’s very community-based, and not L.A., made me feel like I could trust him,” she said.
Dimes recounted how, after playing a few songs for Leonard, he made inappropriate advances and later allegedly drugged her. She recalled feeling under the influence of a heavy tranquilizer, which led to a traumatic sexual encounter she struggled to fully remember.
“When I woke up, I saw blood all around my thighs, my menstrual cup was shoved up my cervix. I couldn’t walk and I was screaming,” Dimes said, describing the aftermath of the alleged assault.
Courtney Barriger, an author and creator of the Eco Fashion Label, also shared a disturbing encounter with Leonard. Having known him for about seven years, Barriger was invited to his home in November 2021, where she claims she was drugged and subjected to unwanted advances.
Barriger described how Leonard made unsettling comments and offered her a spiked drink, which led her to hallucinate. She managed to fend off Leonard’s advances but felt incapacitated by the drugs and was unable to leave.
“The following day, I went to the High Desert Medical Center to get tested for MDMA, but I was told I needed to file a police report first,” Barriger said, noting her hesitation at the time.
Both Dimes and Barriger later discovered they had filed reports with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, but were informed that the department had lost access to them following a cyberattack in April 2023.
Their attorney, Christine Pelosi, daughter of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, has been advocating for justice on their behalf. “We’ve been stuck on this for a long time. We need some sort of justice,” Pelosi stated.
This is not Leonard’s first brush with legal troubles. He is currently facing seven criminal counts in Los Angeles related to a 2022 fire at a Hollywood recording studio he owned, which resulted in the death of Nathan Edwards, 26, and injuries to musician Ozzy Osbourne’s daughter, Aimee Osbourne.