UPDATE:Â More from Radaronline:
At the time of the raid, only one client was there. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“He was just finishing up in suite number one. I sent two of the officers in and the male was on his stomach on the table with a masseuse in lace underwear.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬
That client was Jeff Archuleta. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“We read him his Miranda rights twice. The second time because he said he didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t understand them the first,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ said Salazar. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“During the questioning, he said heà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢d found the place on Craigà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s List. He was asked if heà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢d received any sexual services and he said he had.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬
Archuleta was cited and released. He was not subject to a mug shot. The massage parlor never re-opened.
Holy CRAP! I have no words. Really. I’m just gobsmacked.
MIDVALE, Utah – The father of American Idol runner-up David Archuleta was charged for allegedly soliciting a prostitute. On January 14, Midvale, Utah police raided a Reiki Massage parlor at 7350 South State Street on the basis that the parlor did not have a business license. Once inside, they identified that prostitution was taking place and there was one client receiving the services.
Inside they found a female masseuse and a male client. At that point, Midvale Police say an interview took place and the male client admitted to receiving sexual gratification from the female masseuse.
According to court documents, that one client was 47-year-old James Jeffrey Archuleta, the father of American Idol contestant David Archuleta. He was cited with a Class B misdemeanor, soliciting prostitution and was fined $582. Court documents say Archuleta waived his right to counsel and entered a six month plea in abeyance.
James Archuleta’s attorney Eric Bauer said Archuleta never had sex or sexual contact with his masseuse. He also said it was the first time Archuleta had ever been to the establishment. He was there for a back problem. He pled no contest to the incident and is trying and put it behind him. Archuleta’s attorney said he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Of course I don’t know him. But this just underscores my point. For every criticism about his supposed psychological weakness or unhealthiness, there’s a counter argument to be made that he’s a kid who has his act together.
Not only this, but sheer decency would indicate that we not ascribe to good behavior negative underlying motivations. Why do this? To what purpose–especially when the negative interpretations are so fanciful and easily explained away–and especially when they fly in the face of the evidence presented by those who know David well?
I’m willing to agree David’s father is nothing to brag about. I’m willing to agree his parents’ marriage may well be dysfunctional. I’m willing to agree David uses defense mechanisms to remain psychologically healthy and upbeat despite this. But I’m not willing to agree he’s been in any way psychologically damaged.
Just the opposite in fact. David seems like a very strong person psychologically. He’d have to be, given the pressures he’s been under–especially while on AI–and given his family life as we now know it. I personally believe this is the secret that fuels his love of music. Like all good artists David converts his pain into the stuff of art. There’s a dark side to him that he sublimates with music. But that’s precisely why he remains so strong and healthy.
I almost don’t want to say this but I will….
Passive-aggressive behavior, which you are accurately describing, is generally NOT considered an emotionally optimal way to handle things. If he were truly asserting himself he would have politely said something along the lines of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m not ready to leave yet.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Passive-aggressive behavior is one of the hallmarks of people pleasers.
Can we just agree he is a great singer, who appears to be a very nice person, and this is going to be difficult for him?
Bingo.
Jeez, has this thread evolved or what?!
I have only stated what I have observed. I have made no judgments about these observations other than to say they add up, for me, to a definition of a “pleaser” child. And many, not all, pleaser children tend to be that way because they often have some mental abuse issues during their formative years. And, I personally, think being a “pleaser” child is not healthy in the grand scheme of things. So everything I have said is strictly supposition based only on the data I have been able to see, hear, and read. It is not a clinical diagnosis of Archie, it is an opinion based on years of observing and working with people. I may be totally wrong in my observations, I sincerely hope I am for Archie’s sake. Being a “pleaser” child is not bad….they are usually wonderful characteristics.
I just want Archie to have a fun and balanced life and I don’t see a tremendous balance there. But again, that is only how I feel. Others may think that it is wonderful that an 18 year old has put his education on the back burner while he is touring all summer and trying to put out 2 new albums pretty much simultaneously. David has been working non-stop for a year and his only vacation has been a few days with his family in Vegas. If I was under that kind of schedule I would be demanding a month off to lie on a beach somewhere and catch up on my reading as well as my suntan. But I am sure, based on what David has done in the past, he would spend the entire month working on charitable functions….because that is what a pleaser does.
columnist Cecil Adams writes:
But the whole point is that he copes with it well. Sure it’s not a good situation–but that’s life. And it’s every human being’s life to boot. We don’t all have parents who are dysfunctional, but we have people we work with we find difficult, we have friends who betray us, we have relationships of all kinds that go sour. That’s life–and we cope with it. If we’re healthy-minded, we cope with it well–like David.
Whatever Jeff has done, even if, as his lawyer has claimed for him, he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, it really sucks that there is a situation at all.
I feel for David, his mother and siblings. This would be a awful situation to have to deal with even if they were some anonymous family, but the suckiness (is that a word, Firefox spell check tells me no) is compounded by the fact that Davids celebrity means it is being played out in the public arena for all the world to see (I saw an article in the HUFFINGTON POST for gods sake).
David is or will be forced to realize by the shear magnitude of the public spectacle, the fact that his siblings and mother must live and deal with it in the public eye is a direct result of him pursuing his own dreams.
Despite David himself having done nothing wrong, his pursuit of his own dreams will make what should primarily be a private family situation that much worse. As a result, David will undoubtedly blame himself and his desire to sing for the pain this causes his mother and siblings.
I generally try to be non-judgmental and skeptical about the “news” (celebrity or otherwise) because there are just too many examples of the media / public getting it wrong and backing off (if that) only after the misconceptions have been pounded into our brains and damage has been done. (This was the best I could do in restraining myself from ranting about how poor the standards of “media” outlets have become but allow me this one final mini-rant: speculation is not fact, opinions are not fact, assumptions are not fact, news should be about fact, speculative assumptions about opinions should be kept kept out of the news and left to the bloggers and opinion columns but only if they don’t claims the news mantle.)
But in this case, whether in fact he was after a happy ending or he was just, as his lawyer says, in the wrong place at the wrong time, or even if there is some other explanation (possibly involving a time machine, a cloak of invisibility and witchcraft) that absolutely exonerated Jeff, I find myself extremely unhappy that Jeff put himself in this situation and that as a result of his own (at the very least) poor judgment / luck, David will most likely be blaming himself for the situation and to some degree doubt whether he should want to sing.
Ouch
Good point. David used to put a smile on my face–it was a joy to watch an innocent kid radiate such happiness singing. Now I suspect all that joy has been blighted. The notoriety will have a damaging effect on his performances, definitely. That’s why I think he might do well to cancel the tour and take a year off.
Normally, at this stage in a newcomer’s career, a year’s sabbatical would be counterproductive. People would forget who he was after a short while. But in David’s situation, after such notoriety, this is unlikely to be the case. Instead sympathy will linger and he’ll be remembered as the kid who got away from it all in order to get his head together.
I don’t know if I state that ‘I have absolutely no idea’ whether David handles conflict normally or not. I understand that we donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t know what goes behind closed doors (or in his head), but I think Davidà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s actions speaks volumes about his character and well-being. Yes, yes, no one here is 100% sure, but I just donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t think you can fake that kind of happiness and peaceful demeanor. I have first hand experience of a child being verbally abused by her step father (for years) and yet, she grew up to be one of the most well adjusted teenagers I know (and Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m close with her, so I see her à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹behind closed doorsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, not just her public persona). Some people are just that resilient. To me, ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s not that much of a stretch to think that David is just one of those people.
I’m not so sure about that. I don’t want to minimize what’s happened here, but I think David will handle it all just fine. The kid’s a professional in every sense of the word. The show must go on, as they say. He’s managed to cope with the knowledge of what occurred for the past 5 months. I think he’s a tougher kid than he’s given credit for. He’s keeping things light today on Twitter to show his fans that he’s okay and he’s moving forward.
He’s obviously wanted to be in the public eye given his appearances on both Star Search and Idol and anything since. He lives for music. If anything, it might be an escape for him during all of this. Like with most things, real life can intervene and sometimes you just have to take the good with the bad. If previous rumors are to be considered true, I’m sure David always knew there was a risk that it would all come to the forefront at some point in his career. We all have skeletons in our closets.
I think you’re right. I wrote this before I read some of his recent tweets. He’s in good humor–which indicates to me he’ll be fine. It also suggests he distanced himself from his father psychologically a good while ago. He’s not traumatized whatsoever–but he’s probably secretly pissed–and has been for a long time. He knows his dad’s no prize but he’s not about to admit it. More credit to him.
I won’t assume he is not traumatized. How could he not be? I have never heard him say a bad thing about anyone, so I doubt he will start with his dad. He will take the high ground.
Well, the way I see it, is that David’s mom and siblings will have to deal with it in the public eye due to their husband and father’s actions, not David’s fame.
Because it’s still speculation, whether it’s positive or negative.
How in the world could you possibly know that?
Right. Both the messengers and the innocent bystanders are free of guilt and should be left alone. It’s the perp who’s deserving of our scorn.
I was shocked to see this hit the airwaves but it explained so much. I remember recently when David’s Dad telephoned him and the camera picked up the conversation. David did not sound affectionate at all during the conversation with his Dad, even rolled his eyes once and then commented after he hung up that he (his dad) was talking about the Christmas album. Then I remember being shocked that he went to Asia and the Philippines with Ray and never a mention of his Dad. That was the first time that it was obvious that Jeff wasn’t accompanying him. As far as I’m concerned, David and the rest of his family, excluding his Dad, needs all of our support and sympathy for the humiliation they are having to endure. Jeff is a scumbag in every sense of the word and I just hope somewhere along the way there is a positive for David to dwell on, since his philosophy is to look at the positive in everything. He is such a special guy. Lately, he talks about how much fun it is taking his siblings out to eat, etc., called his Mother on Mother’s Day and the kids all talked first, passing the phone around the car, BUT NEVER A MENTION ABOUT HIS DAD. Maybe that’s the positive. It’s like he is taking over as the man in the house and keeping the rest of the family secure and loved. He is so special. No twitter today about it being Father’s Day!!!!!!!
actually, after you posted david tweeted
Well, let’s face it, it’s obvious that marriage has been in trouble for a number of years as the judge granted them a divorce a few years ago; however it never became final because Utah law required them to attend some class and they never did. Money is always a factor that often leads to divorce. They didn’t have any at the time. Then David won $100K and that saved Jeff’s business and temporarily lessened the financial strain. I still wonder how David’s winning $100K saved Jeff’s business unless Archie gave them the money. I thought there were laws to protect minors and the money they make so that parents don’t take it all–like so many child stars who made money but their parents got it and used it for themselves. I don’t know. In any case, Lupe is in a terrible position. All those kids and how the heck would she support them if they divorced. Needless to say I am sure that their sex life is non-existant for a number of years, so Jeff being a man saw this an an outlet to obtain sex. He’s not the first nor the last to do this and the rationale is that it’s not a personal affair, it’s just sex. There was no emotional bond to another person. Women often look the other way and don’t want to know what their spouse is doing to get it on with someone else; however their biggest fear is that their spouse will have a real affair. If there is no emotional tie to another women, the spouse often just deals with it. Unfortunately, that’s just asking for trouble because sooner or later that spouse does find someone else and you live on eggshells waiting for the other shoe to drop. I speak from experience.
I have no problem with Jeff being a co-manager for Archie as many stars have their mother/father managing them. Why not spread the weath versus giving it to someone else? Since Archie made about $2million this last year, Jeff’s probable 7% share of managing is still darn good money to support his family. Though I have to admit it’s not fair to judge someone you don’t know, Jeff always gave me the creeps. My instincts are usually correct. In any case, I am sure Archie knew about this whole business, but what was he supposed to do, he loves his parents and nobody’s perfect.
Pleading “No Contest” to this kind of charge is neither an admission of guilt or innocence; however it is a means to avoid going to a trial and allows the defendant to just pay a fee and avoid a trial and hopefully publicity, which didnt’ work in his case because he happens to be David Archuleta’s father.