Sex, booze, lies: University of Michigan violin professor preyed on girls for years

Tresa Baldas | Detroit Free Press

The Paste BN Network does not identify those who say they have been sexually abused if they do not wish to come forward.

DETROIT – He was their ticket to the world of elite classical music — a nationally renowned violinist who could make or break careers.

His students admired him, trusted him.

But behind closed doors, former University of Michigan professor Stephen Shipps was secretly hitting the bottle and feeding a perverse appetite, sexually grooming young female students all over the country in a series of predatory relationships that would cost him his job — and ultimately his freedom.

In U.S. District Court Thursday, Shipps, 69, a recovering alcoholic and professional violinist who performed in orchestras worldwide, taught at American and European universities while raising a family, helped create music academies at Cambridge University and in the Czech Republic, and grew a prolific recording career that included a Grammy nomination, was sentenced to five years in prison for his sexual relationship with a 15-year-old violin student two decades ago.

According to court records, Shipps traveled the country with the girl as part of a music program, and used his time alone with her to coerce her into a sexual relationship, buying her gifts, telling her that he loved her, and that this was their "little secret."

The girl kept that secret for years, but eventually spoke up.

So did many others.

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“No person is all good or all bad. But Shipps, an excellent violin teacher, was also a wolf in sheep's clothing. He intentionally set a trap for me — one he knew I wouldn't see because I was a kid and no match for a seasoned predator," one woman wrote in a victim impact statement that was read during Shipps' sentencing hearing.

She was 16 when Shipps coerced her into having a sexual relationship with him, and then hired her to babysit his children.

"He made me keep the secret, which made me feel complicit in his crime," the woman's statement continued. "Everyone knew he was sexually exploiting his students. Yet his career soared, while mine stagnated, as I hid in the section, racked with insecurity and self-doubt.”

Federal prosecutors say they identified nine victims from across the country, including six violin students from Nebraska and North Carolina who said that Shipps had sex with them when they were minors.

He got several girls high or drunk to have his way with them, they said, all while using them as babysitters.

Shipps had power over their careers, they said, and sometimes threatened to derail their futures — so they went along with his perversions, fearful he would ruin them.

“I want to commend the brave young women who, after many years, found the courage to come forward and expose the abuse they suffered at the hands of Shipps,” U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison said in announcing the sentence.

While Shipps was convicted for crimes involving only the 15-year-old, his lawyer has conceded there were others — victims of what he called a toxic classical music culture that tolerated sex abuse and substance abuse, and even encouraged it.

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"As accomplished as he was, Mr. Shipps was a drunk," his attorney, John Shea, wrote in a court filing. "To his much further discredit, he also manipulated the victim in this case for his own gratification, and it wasn't the first time."

After years of AA counseling, therapy and shame, Shipps stood in a federal courtroom Thursday and apologized to the 15-year-old victim, whose allegations not only obliterated his once successful career, but forced him to admit his wrongdoing.

"I have broken the law," Shipps told the judge. "And I acknowledge that. I think more relevant is that my actions have caused harm. I am sorry for having been a bad citizen, but I’m even more sorry for hurting (the victim) in that process. I’m trying to make amends as best I can and will continue to do so."

Shipps continued: "It took too long, but over the last couple of decades I’ve learned a lot about myself. Some of that has been through finding faith, and some of it has been through getting sober — which was very much a function of my finding faith. I have tried to use those insights to be a better person, and I will definitely continue doing that as well."

Shipps did not address any other victims, though his lawyer has conceded that Shipps simultaneously battled alcoholism and engaged in inappropriate sexual relations with students for many years.

"It would be wrong to suggest that Mr. Shipps' alcoholism caused him to have improper sexual relationships," Shea has stated in court filings, adding "the vast majority of alcoholics do not have sexual liaisons with underage adolescents."

But "he is a much different person now," Shea said. "... He is ashamed and remorseful."

A past uncovered

The rise and fall of Shipps has been documented in a series of court filings in U.S. District Court, where prosecutors sought to tell the story of a man who used his position to harm children, while the defense aimed to tell the story of a sinner finding redemption.

According to court records, Shipps and his wife of more than 46 years raised two children while he pursued his career in academia, and on the stage.

Shipps emerged on the classical music scene in 1973, landing stints with the Cleveland Orchestra, the Dallas Symphony and the Dallas Opera before settling in at the University of Michigan's prestigious School of Music, Theater and Art, where he started in 1989 and spent the bulk of his career.

Shipps, who had also taught at the esteemed North Carolina University School of the Arts, spent 40 years teaching before landing on law enforcement's radar.

The prominent violinist was outed by a college newspaper.

It happened in 2018, when the Michigan Daily published an investigation that detailed decades of sexual misconduct allegations made by former students, including a girl named "Anne" who provided this diary entry to the newspaper:

“The things that would happen if we were found out would be: he would probably be fired but first, I would be thrown out of school, every connection I might have through him would be a negative one, rather than a positive one, if at all. I guess what I’m saying is that I would sort of be blacklisted, he would have a lot of reason to hate me since it would probably be my fault that we were found out, he might have a hard time finding another job ... In other words — nobody can know. I need him as a teacher at this point in my life.”

Following the article's publication, University of Michigan placed Shipps on leave. A federal investigation followed and unearthed more allegations.

In 2019, Shipps resigned from University of Michigan. One year later, he was arrested at his Ann Arbor, Michigan, home.

In the fall of 2020, a federal grand jury indicted Shipps on two counts of transporting a minor girl across state lines to engage in sexual conduct.

One year later, he pleaded guilty to one count, admitting he traveled with the girl to New York at least twice when she was 16, and engaged in sexual activity with her during those trips. The girl was not part of the Michigan Daily investigation.

Under the terms of his plea deal, he faced a prison sentence of 57-71 months in prison, though he had hoped to avoid prison altogether.

Shipps' lawyer had asked for probation — or home confinement — arguing that Shipps was a changed man, had great remorse and had already suffered enough: He was a convicted felon, forced to resign under fire and would be required to register as a sex offender for life.

Prosecutors sought a 68-month prison sentence, arguing Shipps abused his position of authority and the trust of his vulnerable students to have his way with him.

"For decades, Shipps had inappropriate and damaging sexual relationships with his students," Assistant Prosecutor Sara Woodward argued in her sentencing memo. "The seriousness of his crimes cannot be overstated. Shipps inflicted extensive emotional harm upon (the 15-year-old) and other teenage girls that stayed with them for the rest of their lives. He stole (her) adolescence, and the adolescence of his other victims."

U.S. District Judge Denise Page Hood gave Shipps 60 months in prison, and ordered him to pay $120,000 in restitution to the girl, who according to court records was Shipps' last victim.

Meanwhile, Shipps also is a defendant in a pending civil lawsuit in North Carolina that accuses him of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old student while he was a violin professor there. Shipps, who is among multiple defendants named in the suit, worked in North Carolina from 1980 until the University of Michigan hired him in 1989.

According to the Winston-Salem Journal, Shipps was allowed to quietly resign from North Carolina before taking his new job at University of Michigan.

Minor victim No. 1 was 'terrified'

The allegations that triggered criminal charges against Shipps date to 2002, and involve a girl described only as Minor Victim No. 1 in court records. Her parents are not mentioned in any filings. Nor is her hometown.

According to court records, Shipps was a crucial person in the girl's life — a mentor and teacher entrusted by her and her family to gain her access into the elite classical music world.

When she was 15, Shipps began taking her out of state. Their first trip was to an undisclosed location in September 2001. They flew on an airplane together and stayed in a hotel, where on the last night of the trip Shipps tried to kiss the girl in her hotel room. But the girl pulled away.

The next month came a second trip. They traveled by car and stayed in a hotel, where Shipps went to the girl's room, sat on the side of her bed and kissed her for a "long time and told her that he hoped the kiss would give her inspiration for her performance."

The girl recalled this October trip as being the start of the sexual relationship and abuse.

When she turned 16, Shipps shared some information with her around her birthday, telling her that she could "now consent to sex" as he had "looked it up."

Then came a third trip, this one to New York City by train. They traveled in a sleeper car. Before they went to sleep, Shipps instructed the girl to perform a sex act on him.

For the next several months, Shipps and the girl engaged in sex acts on a regular basis, and he once played a porn movie for the girl.

Then came the end of the school year. Shipps and the girl drove together to upstate New York, where he had a studio and gave the girl lessons. It was on this trip when the girl told Shipps that the sexual relationship had to stop.

At first, he honored her wishes. But at a hotel on the trip home, Shipps engaged in sexual behavior again, and the girl demanded that he stop. He obliged.

For years, she kept all of this to herself.

"Shipps had control over (the girl's) violin career," prosecutors wrote in court documents. "He told her not to tell anyone about the sexual abuse, and she was terrified that if she did, her violin career would be in jeopardy."

Minor Victim No. 5 'blacked out'

Minor Victim No. 5 was 16 when she performed with the University of Nebraska orchestra.

Shipps was her mentor and teacher at the time, court records show, and he had invited the girl over and served her several alcoholic drinks, to the point where the girl "blacked out," court records state.

Shipps had sex with the unconscious girl in his basement; it was her first time.

Shipps then employed the girl as a babysitter for his children, and continued his sexual relationship with her.

Minor Victim No. 6 had a similar story.

She was 16 when she studied under Shipps at the North Carolina University School of the Arts, which had an experimental program that combined high school and college students pursuing an education in the performing arts.

The girl also babysat for Shipps' children, and was coerced into having a sexual relationship with him.

"(Minor Victim No. 6) was afraid that she would be thrown out of school if anyone discovered the sexual relationship," prosecutors wrote in court documents. "She took time off from college and struggled with depression for several years."

Spring break at teacher's house

Minor Victim No. 7 also studied violin under Shipps at the North Carolina School of the Arts. When she was 17, she stayed at Shipps' house over spring break, and a sexual relationship with her teacher soon started.

The two had sexual rendezvous at his house and office for several months.

Minor Victim No. 8 played violin for Shipps in both Nebraska and North Carolina and babysat his children. Their sexual relationship started with Shipps asking her for a kiss while he drove her home one day. The girl gave him a peck on the cheek, but it didn't stop there.

Shipps started coming on to her more frequently and they eventually became more physical. Shipps started touching her and telling her how "tragic" it was that he couldn't have sex with her, and provided her with marijuana and booze at parties he hosted in his home.

When she turned 18, Shipps was having sex with the girl, who would eventually disclose what was happening.

"As an adult, (Minor Victim No. 8) realized that Shipps had groomed her and taken advantage of her," prosecutors wrote.

Former students support Shipps

Prior to sentencing, numerous people wrote letters of support for Shipps, including friends, former students, parents, church members and his therapist. Among the letter writers were two female students, who described Shipps as a caring professor who went out of his way to help them and offered "genuine support" to his students.

"I was able to pursue both my engineering degree as well as violin, thanks to the overwhelming support from Mr. Shipps," wrote one former female student. "The fact that Mr. Shipps not only encouraged, but went out of his way to support numerous students in the studio who had multiple passions and interests speaks further to his ability to prioritize what is best for his students."

Another female student talked about her struggles with chronic, debilitating headaches and how Shipps helped her.

"I was going through thousands of dollars' worth of medical testing and I was so sick that I wasn't performing at my best," the woman states in her letter. "Mr Shipps offered the encouragement I need to seek out a higher level of treatment."

The letter continued: "I always felt as though Mr. Shipps was invested in me as a whole person, not just as a musician, all while not crossing any personal boundaries."

A 'changed and better man'

Schipps started drinking at 17.

As an only child, he was raised in Illinois and Indiana in a household where all his material and emotional needs were met, court records show. Still, he caved to the pressures of his demanding music career and developed "deep-seated alcoholism."

He graduated from Indiana University in 1973 with a bachelor's degree in music, got married three years later, earned his master's degree and raised a family with his wife, who remains with him today.

"Mr. Shipps has been and remains a pillar of support within his family," his attorney states in court records, stressing his client has turned his life around. He cited the following:

His "improper sexual relationships" with students ended in 2002.
He became sober in 2009, attends AA daily in support of his sobriety, and has become a leader in his AA community.
He has been in treatment for anxiety and depression since 2013, and takes medication.

Since 2007, he has been very involved in his church, helping direct the church's 12-step addiction programs, and serving as a violinist at services, worship leader, and Bible study participant.

Shipps has been free on bond since he was charged in 2020 and has not started his prison sentence. The federal Bureau of Prisons has not yet given him a date, or a location, and it could take weeks or months before he reports to prison.

Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com

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