By Daniel B. Wood | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

LOS ANGELES - Cindy Smith still vividly remembers the day of her first job interview with a top talent agency based here.

"The president of the agency walked by me in the waiting room and gestured me into his office," says Ms. Smith, now a writer and mother of two. "Without a moments hesitation he said, 'if you sleep with me right now, I will get you anywhere you want to go in this industry.' He was not even being bold but rather matter-of-fact. That's what shocked me most."

The incident, as she recounts it, is one of the more overt examples of an oft-told tale: female teen comes to Hollywood to become a star, and instead becomes a victim of sexual abuse or harassment.

Now, because of a California law lifting the statute of limitations in certain molestation cases, incidents as old as the one from three-decades ago described by Ms. Smith (not her real name) are open to legal action. Coming after the scandals in the Roman Catholic Church, one of the law's effects is to raise new questions about the extent to which sexual harassment of young people has gone unchecked in the fashion industry.

Today, lawyers who are preparing dozens of cases against Catholic priests say there's the potential for even more sex-abuse cases to come forward within the film, modeling, music, and television industries. "Because of this new law, I anticipate that the number of cases coming forward in California by victims of the entertainment industry will be larger than that of the Catholic church," says Larry Drivon, a Stockton-based lawyer who helped draft the California law.

His firm just named John Casablancas, the founder of top modeling agency, Elite, in a sexual-abuse lawsuit filed under the new law by a former model. The woman, now a housewife, claims that Casablancas impregnated her when she was 15 in the late 1980s, and then arranged for her to have an abortion.

Child, family, and sexual-abuse groups say they are preparing for the onslaught of similar cases, which could snowball as revelations are made - much like the church scandal.

The Casablancas lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleges that Casablancas began sexually abusing the girl in 1988 when she was in Elite's "Look of the Year" competition, a pageant to find new models. Casablancas, now 60, set up the business in 1970 and built it into one of the world's leading agencies with models such Cindy Crawford and Naomi Campbell. "The industry is full of [sexual abuse]," says supermodel Tyra Banks, "A lot of it is disgusting. You need to be mature enough to handle it."

But Casablancas's lawyer says the case is both without merit and doesn't come under the jurisdiction of California. "This is a very dangerous situation that encourages lawyers and plaintiffs to exploit this law and fabricate claims. The exploitation of these laws is the next scandal," says the attorney, Robert Wolf.

Legal experts say the deciding factor in all such cases will be viable evidence. Many accusations will involve acts more than a decade old, and the burden of proof still rests with those bringing the legal action. People also have only one year, beginning Jan.1, to file their claims.

"Attorneys or plaintiffs who think they want to file frivolous lawsuits under this law will be stopped cold by lawyers who need significant amounts of real evidence to win convictions," says Raymond Boucher, lawyer for Kiesel, Boucher and Larson, which is representing the plaintiff against Casablancas.

He says his firm rejects roughly half of possible cases for lack of evidence. "Many times we evaluate a possible case where we know the abuse happened, but we also know we can't prove it," says Jeff Anderson, a lawyer based in St. Paul, Minn., who has filed cases against the Catholic church over three decades.

Whatever the problem in determining the veracity, agencies that deal with sex abuse of minors say they welcome more scrutiny of the entertainment industry.

"Any situation where you have someone in power over young people who are vulnerable and are so desperate to get contracts ... is the worst kind of breeding ground for the sexual abuse of power," says Jonny Morales, executive director of the Family Violence and Sexual Assault Institute, a San Diego-based group.

One other important difference is that the captains of the fashion industry do not hold the same position of public trust as priests, and the industry itself is well-known as an exploiter of youth for physical beauty. "The bar is way different here," says Michael Gross, author of "Model: The ugly business of beautiful women." "Modeling agents are not priests, but no one in the world thinks they are either."

Yet he also believes that male executives alone aren't to blame for Hollywood's dalliance culture. "The problem with the entertainment business is that there are just as many 14-year-olds going on 40 who set out to get exactly what they want and knowing how to get it," he says. "It's also human nature not to feel a lot of sympathy for someone who won the genetic lottery."

The model going places - fast
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

Charlotte Dutton, one of Britain's leading snowboarders, is also tipped to become one of the hottest faces of 2003 in the modelling world.

This spring, the 22-year-old will star in Topshop's "Unique" campaign, shot by fashion photographer Rankin. She has also been photographed - nude - by David Bailey for a forthcoming exhibition.

In 2002, her willowy 5ft 8in frame was splashed across billboards advertising the new Vauxhall Vectra. Before that, her cropped hair was dyed pink for a Vidal Sassoon campaign. This year, she is to become "the body" for a British lingerie giant. But for now, she is doing what she loves best - snowboarding - halfway up a mountain in Whistler, Canada.

A few years ago, a model of Dutton's advanced years (by industry standards) would have been put out to grass by now. These days, when some of the models most in demand are pushing 30 and bringing up children in between shoots, age is irrelevant.

According to Isis, Dutton's model agency, the fact that modelling isn't her only career is what makes her so bankable. Charlotte Dutton is not your average snow babe. She is taller, thinner and more hyperactive than most chilled-out boarders. She is also mature. She has had to be: she left her parental home in Acton, London, aged 16 (after gaining 12 GCSEs) to take up a scholarship at Stratton Mountain School in Vermont.

"I brought with me tons of nightclub gear and I wasn't even allowed in pubs. It was an American ski resort, which was really geeky, and I missed browsing in fashion shops. Even then, my style was 'sexy, London chic'; my clothes were bought mostly in Topshop and in Camden Town."

What makes Dutton stand out, both on the slopes and at model castings, is her unique style. With just over a year's experience, she has joined the new model army of hip London chicks, which includes Fanny Bostrom, Liberty Ross and Lizzy Jagger: all girls who are booked as much for the way they put their own clothes together as for their pretty faces.

"I always wear make-up and high heels," Dutton says. "When I met my boyfriend's parents in Canada, I wore over-the-knee boots and slid around on the ice at his farm. If they weren't so impractical, I'd wear stilettos on the slopes, along with a mini."

After discovering snowboarding at the age of 12 on a family ski trip, Dutton began to compete in junior competitions. She turned "pro" at 16 and came 16th in the Junior US Open. "My style evolved because I didn't have much money. My trademark was always choppy hair. I don't do 'safe'."

She was discovered by an art director at Vidal Sassoon while walking down a street in London, which led to a proper haircut and a worldwide ad campaign.

The Storm model agency spotted the pictures and recruited Dutton, who modelled "half-heartedly" in between competitions. Her current agency, Isis, specialises in models with dual careers, such as Lisa Snowden, the model-turned television presenter, and several It-girls.

"As a snowboarder, money is tight and so any way of making money is great. I've always loved clothes.

"I owe a lot of my style to my mother. She eggs me on and spoils me rotten, buying things I love which I can't really afford. I wouldn't be anywhere without support from her and my dad, both financially and morally.

"Encouraging me to snowboard kept me out of trouble as a mouthy kid, growing up in Ealing. It also gave me a goal."

Charlotte's latest goal, apart from securing another campaign to help pay for her next trip to Whistler, is to become an ambassador for British sport. "Any sport, whether it's snowboarding or whatever. Compared with the States, young British girls have a poor reputation for getting involved in sport, but for some reason they really look up to models. If I can help persuade young girls that they can keep their figures - and sanity - through snowboarding, rather than dieting or doing 100 sit-ups a day - it would be my way of giving something back."