I Was Researching the Man Behind the Myth Before His Death—Now More Stories Are Emerging
Several weeks ago, a friend sent me a picture of Prince Mongo and told me about the parties he held for high-school students. I had never heard of him before, but something about the story immediately struck me as wrong. My first, admittedly uncharitable thought was: Psychedelic Jimmy Savile.
That first impression led me into a deeper investigation of Mongo’s life, businesses, criminal history, nightclubs, underage patrons, and the young people who surrounded him. The more I uncovered, the less harmless the familiar story of Memphis’s lovable alien eccentric began to look.
During my research, I found a public accusation connecting Mongo—whose legal name was Robert Calvin Hodges—to Winsor Stockton and Ray Driggers, two men connected to a documented national child-abuse and CSAM operation. The accusation was specific, but I have not independently verified the alleged connection between Mongo and those men.
On the night before Mongo died, I contacted the person who made the accusation. I have not yet received a response.
Mongo died before I could finish my investigation or publish what I had found. Since news of his death broke, more people have begun coming forward with troubling stories and experiences of their own. I am grateful to those who have found the courage to speak. I understand that sharing these experiences, particularly when they involve a person who was widely loved and celebrated, may be difficult and may invite disbelief, ridicule, or hostility.
I am currently reviewing these accounts, attempting to verify their details, and carefully distinguishing firsthand experiences from secondhand information, rumor, and speculation. The appearance of comments does not automatically establish that every allegation is true, but these accounts deserve to be heard and examined seriously.
If Mongo harmed or exploited anyone, whether decades ago or more recently, my thoughts and prayers are with them. I hope they are met with compassion, patience, and support. No victim should feel pressured to speak publicly before they are ready, and no one owes strangers the most painful details of their life in order for their experience to matter.
I began researching Prince Mongo before his death because I suspected that the colorful mythology surrounding him had obscured a much darker history. His death has not erased those questions. If anything, what has emerged since then has made examining them more urgent.
Prince Mongo may be dead, but the research is not over. Justice was not served.
The full article is forthcoming.
Leave a Reply