Ethan Kath of Crystal Castles is currently under a sex crimes investigation, the Toronto Police Service has confirmed.
In a statement provided to The Daily Beast, police confirmed that an investigation was underway which involved multiple alleged victims, but could not confirm any more details about it:
At this point we are able to confirm that there is an investigation. However, because of the nature of the investigation, and for the privacy of the alleged victims, there isn’t anything else that we can say pertaining to it.
Kath, whose real name is Claudio Palmieri, was recently accused by former bandmate Alice Glass of abusing her physically and sexually over an extended period of time while they were recording and performing as Crystal Castles. Kath has denied those allegations, describing Glass’ account as “pure fiction” in a statement via his lawyer.
Kath is currently suing Glass over her allegations, claiming that they were intended to “wrongly defame and harm the reputation” of Crystal Castles and himself.
Glass originally made her allegations via a lengthy statement on her website, which paints a pretty grim picture of Kath’s conduct:
He became physically abusive. He held me over a staircase and threatened to throw me down it. He picked me up over his shoulders and threw me onto concrete. He took pictures of my bruises and posted them online. I tried to leave, and he swore that it would never happen again, that he would never physically abuse me again. More severe psychological and emotional abuse took its place.
Though no official information about the Toronto police investigation has been released, The Daily Beast says they have been in contact with one accuser involved, who says that Kath first initiated a sexual relationship with her when she was 16.
“I want this guy’s insane horrible mistreatment of underage girls to be out in the open for everyone to know and to protect themselves,” she said.
