"THE DARKSIDE OF THE COURT" PRESS RELEASE

                          

Lorch, a 75-year old multi-millionaire and former chief executive of leveraged buyout firm Dyson-Kissner-Moran, has been an elite power figure in New York City amateur athletics since taking over the Riverside Church basketball program in 1961. Lorch founded the Riverside Church Hawks as an outreach program for underprivileged kids, and for decades, hundreds of boys and girls from grammar school kids to college students played on dozens of Riverside teams each year.   The program was nationally recognized for its success and leadership in the field of youth development and is the athletic birthplace of at least 60 current and former NBA players including Kenny Smith, Mark Jackson, Chris Mullin, Elton Brand, Ron Artest, Stephon Marbury, and Bernard King. Hundreds of others played for prestigious Division 1 colleges, in the CBA and other professional leagues overseas.  Lorch agreed to resign from Riverside program in 2002 after Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau’s office began investigating his relationship with Robert Holmes, a former player. “As the head of the program and as his coach, Lorch had a duty to protect Robert from harm.” said Lawrence Luttrell, Holmes’ attorney.  “Instead, he took that as an opportunity to engage in offensive contact against him.”

 

According to the New York Times, Mr. Holmes stated in his affidavit that he and his mother confronted Mr. Lorch with accusations of sex-abuse that began when Holmes was 12 and continued for three-years.  Lorch gave Holmes $25,000 in cash and later hired lawyers for Holmes in a criminal case at a cost of $250,000. According to a transcript, Lorch acknowledged giving Mr.   Holmes about $2 million in 50 or 60 checks (some in amounts more than $100,000) from 1997 to 2000, but claimed the money was meant to help his former player with business ventures like a Hip hop record label, a recording studio and a nightclub.  Holmes called it hush money and filed a suit for damages in excess of $100,000, claiming Lorch reneged on a promise to financially support him for the rest of his life if he kept their sexual relationship a secret.


As rumors of Lorch’s sexual misconduct began to surface, the Daily News assembled an investigative team and broke the story. Luke Cyphers, a former sports writer for the Daily News, reported that Holmes had officially accused Lorch of sexual abuse in a petition he filed in Brooklyn Federal Court.  Holmes claimed his lawyers in the gun case were ineffective because of a conflict of interest—Lorch had paid their legal fees.  Robert Holmes, who continues to suffer from mental and emotional duress, has come to terms with his sordid past and the downward spiral his life took as a result of his inability to cope with the anger and frustration he fought to suppress. While serving a 97-month federal prison sentence for weapons charges, Holmes documented his pain in a poignant recollection of events which total 500 handwritten pages. It all provides a window into his personal life in a painstaking account of sexual wrongdoing at the hands of Lorch, who was a mentor, coach and father figure to the promising young hoopster.
 
King believes that with the creative exploitation of Mr. Holmes’ story and plight, it will not only bring a level of closure to this sad ordeal but a level of transparency that is much needed with sex-abuse.  “I see “The Darkside of the Court” really reaching the hearts of the masses and showing just how the innocence of a young person can be forfeited by the selfish gratification of an adult.”  This story will express how Mr. Holmes’ vulnerabilities were preyed upon by a man that leveraged his power through money and authority.  As a defining result, a man has been permanently and emotionally scarred by these callous acts that so many other young men have also been victims of—sex-abuse.  “The Darkside of the Court” will be a candid, raw, and heartfelt body of work that will touch many” says King. The element of transparency can never be taken for granted when someone has gone through this type of traumatic experience. “To be able to share his story is a feat accomplished on its own. I am excited to be included in the vision and creation of Mr. Holmes that I know will be an impactful project when it’s delivered to the world.”

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