Opera singer, 78 is banned from being alone with pupils under 18
‘I have not done anything wrong’
A TOP opera singer and music teacher has been banned by a court from being alone with pupils aged under 18 – because he poses a risk of causing them sexual harm.
Michael Patterson – who is better known to audiences as Michael De Costa – was not charged with any offence after being investigated by police for an ‘inappropriate relationship’ with a 17-year-old girl.
He had also allegedly behaved inappropriately towards other pupils, but the police inquiry failed to find sufficient evidence to charge De Costa with a criminal offence.
Instead North Yorkshire Police applied to York Magistrates’ Court for a Sexual Risk Order (SRO) on the grounds he had performed acts of a sexual nature and could be a risk to the public.
The 78-year- old singer, who has been the principal baritone with the English National Opera, denied any wrongdoing but didn’t contest the police application. After reading the evidence, Deputy District Judge Mike Hopkinson made the order for five years against the singer who runs De Costa Academy in York.
De Costa, pictured, must now be chaperoned whenever he is teaching girls under 18 or involved in activities with them through his academy until April 2023. He is banned from any contact with the teenager at the centre of the allegations. Details of what he is said to have done have not been revealed. SROs were introduced to protect the public from people who are believed to pose a risk of causing harm but have not committed a criminal offence.
It was made clear in court that De Costa has no convictions. After the hearing the teenage girl said his actions towards her had ‘ruined her life’ and ‘he needs to realise what he did was wrong’. An adult relative of the girl said the family trusted him because they thought he was helping with her musical career. She said: ‘You do expect these people to be checked and you very much expect them to behave professionally.’
De Costa, a widower from Gowdall, East Yorkshire, said his music school was still open, commenting: ‘I have not done anything wrong.’
He said the allegations were made by the 17-year- old two years ago. Police seized computer equipment and his mobile phone and he was initially told no further action would be taken before a decision was made to apply for an SRO. He said: ‘ They found absolutely nothing. It is just one of them things. The truth of the matter is they took no action against me criminally. There was nothing to answer.’ De Costa said the need to chaperone girls under 18 would ‘not make any difference’ due to rules already in place at his music school. He said he agreed to accept the order as he could have been left with a five-figure costs bill had he challenged it and lost. ‘I have been teaching singing in York for 30 years and never, ever had anything like this,’ he said.
‘It will all come out in the wash eventually.’
Sergeant Lee Featherstone of North Yorkshire Police’s Offender Management Unit said the order was sought ‘as a result of concerns raised regarding this individual’. The SRO bans De Costa from ‘ being in the presence of any female who is under 18 years of age in the course of instruction, teaching or coaching or otherwise in the course of his employment or business, unless their parent or guardian is present’.
A breach amounts to a criminal offence and is punishable with up to five years’ jail.
De Costa has performed many times at The Royal Albert and Royal Festival Halls in London, and for opera companies across the world, including in Russia, Bahrain, and Malta.