THE BEAST

Earlier this week, The Faceless dropped Inanimate Existence from an upcoming tour as the result of “information that has just come to our attention today regarding actions that we simply cannot stand for.” Although The Faceless did not elaborate ion these actions, a Facebook post by mastermind Michael Keene made it clear that there had been allegations of sexual misconduct.

Then, this past Thursday, November 16, The Faceless amended their original statement to be more specific. From their Facebook page:

“Since this has turned into inevitable internet drama thanks to the metal tabloids, here is the truth. If inanimate Existence aren’t going to come forward after being given the chance and instead choose to make jokes about ‘vaping’, we will.

“Edited from Ken Sorceron’s original post on his personal fb page to be more blunt:

“Getting plenty of messages asking me about this so I’m just going to say this. We (The Faceless) had to drop a band from our upcoming tour yesterday.

“The fact is that someone came to me with what began as a compelling story about a terrible crime in which a member of the band that was to tour with us was the perpetrator. That crime was rape. When we asked the member of this band about it we got poorly photoshopped screenshots of a conversation between the member of the band and the victim attempting to absolve him of guilt and make her sound ‘desperate for attention’ that appear to have simply never happened.

“Photoshopping a fake conversation that frees you from guilt doesn’t seem like an action that someone who is actually innocent would take. We aren’t giving all the details of who, how or when because its up to the victim to do that publicly when and if she wants to, but either way we don’t want anything to do with this band while this one guy is still in the band.

“This is our choice to make and to the people who disagree, get fucked because I see plenty of ‘fans’ talking shit on comment sections and maybe many of you are just huge apologists for one of the most vile types of human behavior on this planet but we aren’t. Sorry shit heads.

“-The Faceless”

Needless to say, the updated statement was followed by a myriad of comments… including the below, which comes from a young woman. Although she very bravely publicly shared her story on Facebook, we’ve decided not to include it until we can confirm that she is okay with her name being re-printed in the press.

“I was raped by Cameron when I was 16. I tried to report it, and went to the ER, but things didn’t work out. Reporting rape is not as easy as people may think. Not only do victims have to retell the traumatic story over and over, but there is a big chance that there will be no justice.

“Cameron says I’m lying, and people who experience rape should report it right away. I did try to report it right away, the records at the ER prove this, and no one pays for ER bills for something they make up. We were paying the bills from that visit to the ER for years after this incident.

“I’m not a liar just because I used to cut myself when I was 16. People who cut themselves might want to take their own life, but there is no correlation to cutting and wanting to hurt other people directly. Saying that people who cut themselves are likely to make things up is a terrible thing to say about those who do suffer with suicidal thoughts. Wanting to take your own life is different then someone who wants to hurt others.

“I have been suffering with thoughts of not being able to get justice, and worries that others may have went through what I went through. I wish that I could have prevented their suffering, because since The Faceless made this post, two other victims have come forward and said that they had a similar experience with Cameron. Who knows how many others there are. This is simply heartbreaking.

“In Cameron’s post about me, he never addressed the fake photo shopped screen shots that he took. He photo shopped words into my mouth before I even saw that he messaged me. When he was asked by his band manager to take a video of this supposed message, Cameron refused. Why would an innocent man refuse to prove that he did not photo shop a message to make himself look innocent? Why would an innocent person try to lie to make himself look innocent if he has nothing to hide? I have attached the photo shopped messages, and the real messages that I replied saying to him. When I replied to him saying why did you photo shop words in my mouth, all he said was that he was going to get an attorney. Even his band mate, Ron, messaged me, and told me to lie or else he would get a lawyer. I attached this message for you all as well.

“Why did IE post jokes on their page saying ‘they like to vape’ when addressing these allegations? You know what ‘vape’ rhymes with? It rhymes with RAPE. This should not be a joking matter. If someone makes serious allegations against you it should not be joked about, and they even had the nerve to say the allegations were ‘not as serious as they seem’. Somehow rape is not that serious. Okay?

“Another thing that is heart breaking is all the victim shaming on this post and the Metal Sucks article. I am completely disgusted with these comments, and they are blatantly blaming the victim for everything. It is not my fault that this happened ten years ago, and when I did try to report it things did not work out. I knew Cameron long before IE. I met this guy over a decade ago, and had no sexual interest in him what so ever. Stop victim blaming, everyone victim blaming is making the metal subculture look bad. You guys wonder why the metal heads in all the movies are the bad guy? It’s because of people like that- victim shaming.

“So many people are saying why wasn’t this reported or taken to the police- it was. Justice in not just magically served, the judicial system and hospitals are not perfect.

“Another thing about that- to all of you victim shaming and saying horrendous things about me, and then saying I should report it: you wonder why people don’t report it. It’s people like you, doubting victims, shaming them, saying I asked for it, and blaming me, that make people afraid to come forward with rape allegations and charges. It is this kind of behavior that scares women from reporting rape. Everyone who victim shamed here is part of the problem. Those commenters are the reason why people don’t report this. All this hatred will tear apart any strong person.

“I don’t owe you an explanation, I’m only posting this to prove that the members of The Faceless are good people, and that this is 100% real. They did not turn their backs on me and carry on. They actually took action and did the right thing, and that, I want to thank you all for. Thank you.”

The young woman included the following images with her post:

Via MetalSucks