Joseph Brooks arrested for sexual assault

New York (ANI): Oscar winning songwriter Joseph Brooks was arrested Tuesday and charged with sexually assaulting 11 women. Brooks, who wrote award winning song "You Light Up My Life", and his personal assistant Shawni Lucier, have been accused of luring aspiring models and actresses with promises of parts in his next movie.

"For the most part, they were people who read an ad and thought this might be the big chance to be a star," the New York Daily News quoted Assistant District Attorney Maxine Rosenthal, as saying. "I feel like a weight has been lifted," said victim Loretta Spruell, 23, of Washington State, who once tried out for "American Idol. I'm glad he is going to be held accountable for all the lives he's destroyed and not hurt anyone else," she added.

Brooks, 71, turned himself in to face 82 counts of sex-related charges, including rape. He whined about being fingerprinted, sources said. Brooks personal assistant Lucier is accused of lining up the trysts for her boss with beautiful women from Oregon, California, Florida and Washington State. "She acted as the gatekeeper," said Lt. Adam Lamboy of the Manhattan Special Victims Squad.

Lucier would then fly with the women and drive them to Brooks' home. "[Brooks] would say, You ought to have a glass of wine, that's part of the procedure," said District Attorney Robert Morgenthau. According to the prosecutors, women aged 18 to 30, were 'incapacitated' by the drinks.