GAZA Frontman Accused Of Rape, Accuser Later Backpedals

Gaza vocalist Jon Parkin was accused of raping a woman in September, a charge that both Jon and the band deny. The accuser, Jeana, posted her account via Tumblr but the post has since been deleted and replaced with a new statement stating "In respect to the incident aforementioned on my blog; both parties have mutually agreed on a resolution for this matter. I have agreed to delete all mentions and posts about this incident from my blog, and I will refrain from posting about this incident again.

"Neither of us are retracting our respective statements— instead we are deciding to not discuss it further and move on. This agreement means I will be unable to answer questions about this. I want to apologize to Gaza as a whole, my intention never was to damper the reputation or musical careers of the members, and I apologize to them. I apologize for involving the band in accusations and handling it poorly in a way that influences the members of Gaza and other well intentioned people involved with their career and music. Both of us would like people not to disparage either party and move on.

"This is the last thing I will post about the incident."

Both Gaza and Jon have also commented and defended themselves with different accounts of the situation and even urged the accuser to go to the police if she feels she was raped.

"We have worked hard to establish a good reputation for almost ten years now and we're not about to let an errant accusation unravel that. For those quick to judge, I ask how you would feel if you were forced to face such an accusation? There is no perfect way to handle this, but we're going to take every measure to preserve the most important thing we've created in that time; our reputation. We take this very seriously. The last sentence in Jon's statement is one that cannot be stressed enough.

From Jon Parkins:

"Let me first say that this rape allegation is entirely untrue. Throwing this sort of accusation up on the internet is reckless and completely slanderous. Two of my very close friends have been raped and it was devastating to watch them go through the recovery process, one of which I spent a summer helping through counseling. I went with her to the clinic to get her AIDS test results. Rape infuriates me, and I never see red like I do when I hear about it. This is not a subject or an accusation I take lightly. Anyone who knows me personally knows that I could never and would never force myself on anybody.

"I'm sorry that you all have to be part of this drama, but this has to be addressed. This mess in no way has anything to do with the band and I'm sorry for the other members as this is a black mark on us that is undeserved and untrue. Women's rights and all forms of social justice are causes we champion. I would encourage this person as well as any other who feel they have been assaulted to go immediately to the police."



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Tags:  Gaza, rape, Jon Parkins  

Jason Fisher    January 18, 2013