Folk singer Peter Yarrow, of Peter, Paul and Mary, has been dropped by a festival over his 1970 jail sentence for “indecent liberties” with a 14-year-old girl.
The Colorscape Chenango Arts Festival confirmed that Yarrow will not headline at this year’s festival in September. According to the organizers, Yarrow was dropped was due to the reaction on social media about his 1970 jail sentence.
“When booking this artist we were not aware of news stories about an incident involving Yarrow in 1970,” Colorscape’s board president Melissa DeCordova said in a statement. “Some members of our community expressed concern, and after further investigation and careful consideration, the decision was made to remove Yarrow from the music schedule.”
Yarrow was set to perform on September 8 along with painter Robert Channing. The free, two-day festival will be held on September 7 and 8 in the east and west parks of downtown Norwich.
Yarrow was sentenced to three months in jail in 1970 after an incident in which the 14-year-old and her 17-year-old sister went to his hotel seeking an autograph and he answered the door naked and made sexual advances.
However, he was pardoned by President Jimmy Carter in 1981, the day before the president left his office.
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