Morgan Allen, a 20-year-old from Minneapolis, was contacted last November by a photographer named Haythem Lafhaj via Instagram, a relatively common way for new models, especially those outside fashion centers like New York, to network with image makers.
Ms. Allen met with him a few times to work on photographs for her portfolio without incident, but at a shoot in February, she said, she found herself alone with him. In the middle of the shoot, she said, “he started to grab me and pushed me back on a table and continued to touch me around my vaginal area.”
Shaken, Ms. Allen left. Later she connected with Casey Pearson, a makeup artist who had previously posted on Facebook about Mr. Lafhaj; Ms. Pearson said she had also been sent descriptions of negative experiences other models had had with the photographer, which she also posted. (There were additional models who left comments under the post attesting that they had never had a problem with Mr. Lafhaj).
Ms. Pearson convinced Ms. Allen to report her own assault to the police, and when Ms. Allen said she was scared, Ms. Pearson went with her to file a complaint.
Mr. Lafhaj said in a statement via email, “with respect to the allegations of Ms. Allen, I was never aware of any police report or allegations of inappropriate sexual touching or activity. The police never contacted me. I have never been charged with any crime, and most importantly, the allegations are untrue.” He also said he was not in Minneapolis at the time of the alleged incident.
Sarah Gant, a 19-year-old model from Nashville who came up to New York to attend a casting for the Alexander Wang show in June, had been in the city only a week or so when Kevin Fitzpatrick, the executive director of Silent, her New York agency, invited her to a get-together where she could meet other models and photographers.
