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Report: Lawyer for Crystal Castles’ Ethan Kath Denies Sexual Misconduct Claims Brought by Four New Women

LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 21: Crystal Castles performs at The Wiltern on October 21, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Oliver Walker/Getty Images)

Crystal Castles member Ethan Kath has been accused of multiple accounts of nonconsensual sexual acts and abuse. Last year, former bandmate Alice Glass published a statement alleging “almost a decade of abuse, manipulation, and psychological control” from the musician. Kath (real name Claudio Palmieri) denied the allegations and responded with a defamation lawsuit.

Now, in her first interview since coming forward, Glass (real name Margaret Osborn) has spoken out about the lawsuit, saying that she’s confident that the case will be dismissed. Osborn believes that the lawsuit was mainly to “make my life harder for the next however many months,” as well as “to intimidate all of these women that probably don’t have access to a lawyer,” thus hesitant to speak out in fear of being sued. “I refuse to be intimidated by him,” she concluded.

In December, Osborn said that multiple women had made criminal complaints against her former bandmate. In a new report published by the Daily Beast, four women detail their alleged experiences with Palmieri, which include claims of “grooming” younger fans aged 14-19, nonconsensual sex, and physical abuse.

In one account, an anonymous woman identified by the pseudonym “Sarah” says she met Palmieri at a film shoot in 2002. At the time, she was 14 years old (the legal age of consent in Canada until 2008, when it was raised to 16), while he was 24. “He brought me backstage into a dark area, grabbed a blowup doll, told me to hold it, proceeded to like my face and take the picture,” she told the Daily Beast. “I did not consent to this and honestly, I just remember freezing and believing I was lucky to receive the attention even though I felt it was wrong.”

In another account, a woman identifies a pattern of “grooming” throughout the year-long “sexual relationship” she had with the musician. At the time, Palmieri was 35, while Leah was 16, the legal age of consent in England. “I think some of [my friends] were properly able to distinguish that, you know, it was wrong of him to take advantage of me, considering my age,” she said. “But then there was this aspect of like, oh, but he was in our favorite band, so…we can’t see clearly.”

The Toronto police have confirmed that they’re currently investigating Palmieri, who has not been charged with any crime. “I know how intimidating he can be and how relentless he is with trying to silence his victims and scare us,” Osborn said. “But I do feel a lot of responsibility to show these other women that it’s going to be OK.  No matter what happens I’m still going to carry on with my life, I’m not going to let him get to me…I feel like I can show the others that it’s OK to come forward.”

Palmieri’s lawyers denied to Daily Beast that the musician had ever engaged in sexual relationships with anyone under the age of consent. His lawyer added: “I would like to note that my review of the statements of these persons show that their allegations are untrue, misleading, and made solely with the intent to support the false and defamatory comments of the Defendant.”

Read the Daily Beast’s full report here.