Founder of iconic 90s band makes shocking sex abuse allegations against Christian rock star Michael Tait

Daily Mail​

7 days ago

The founding manager of rock group Evanescence has accused the Christian rock singer Michael Tait of sexual assault.
Jason Jones, accused the 59-year-old singer as he recalled a harrowing night where Jones believed he was drugged and assaulted by Tait.
'It destroyed me,' Jones told The Guardian. 'I was achieving my dreams at an early age, and Tait changed all that.'
The latest accusations bring the total number of his alleged victims up to eight.
Tait had become a famed rockstar in the Christian mega-bands DC Talk and Newsboys, both well known for encouraging sexual abstinence and sobriety along with religious rhetoric.
The singer admitted truth to the string of accusations of sexual assault following a two and a half year investigation by The Roys Report detailing the 20 years of grooming, substance abuse and sexual assault.
In June, he wrote a lengthy confession in which he said: 'Recent reports of my reckless and destructive behavior, including drug and alcohol abuse and sexual activity, are sadly, largely, true.'
He made an abrupt departure from Newsboys in January so he could 'get help', adding he was not healthy, 'physically or spiritually,' adding he was, 'tired of living a double life.'
One of Jones's biggest dreams was to meet DC Talk, which he achieved in 1994 in Nashville, but he found a different man that he expected.
Jones recalled to the outlet that he was shocked by Tait's tendencies to grab other men's genitals at random before he learned Tait was living as a closeted gay man.
As a Christian, Jones was sober and a virgin at in 1995 as he collaborated with Ben Moody to co-produce the first Evanescence demo.
Yet, he found himself in Tait's party world, where he would smoke cigarettes and marijuana or drinking the night away with Tait.
'I had this band that I was trying to take places,' Jones said, recalling his discomfort with the party scene he found himself in.
'And [Tait] had the power to open doors for us in the industry. So I went along with whatever, but didn't know what it would cost me.'
Jones recalled to the outlet how Tait did help open doors for the band and connecting him to record labels, venue owners, producers as well as musicians.
Sources alleged to The Guardian that Tait had many attractive young men through his home in Nashville, some of which were underage. They added that Tait had a 'no clothes allowed' rule in his hot tub.
'He would put his penis against one of the jets, and tell us to do the same, saying, "see, it feels good!",' one source told the outlet.
It was a night in 1998 that Jones recalled feeling suddenly tired one night, and he was offered to fall asleep in Tait's bed.
'I felt honored that he felt that close to me, that he trusted me enough to let me sleep in his bed,' Jones said.
But he remembered waking up with his pants missing and Tait performing oral sex on him.
'I said "no" and pushed him off, but then, somehow, I passed out again. I woke back up and he was still doing it. I said "no" again, then nodded out. And then I woke up a third time, aggressively shouted "no!" and pushed him harder. It was then that he left me alone,' Jones told The Guardian.
Jones said that in hindsight, he believed that he had been drugged by Tait.
Moody said he noticed a change in Jones's behavior almost immediately, including mood swings, depression, rage and paranoia.
'Looking back I would've been a bit more attentive, but I was a typical 18-year-old who wanted to be a rockstar,' Moody said.
Jones said he struggled with a meth addiction through a five-year spiral following the assault.
Tait released a lengthy statement on Instagram in June, entitled My Confession, where he all but confirmed the allegations
Tait posted on Instagram in June, after a six-week stay at a treatment center in Utah, about his struggle with addiction to drugs and alcohol and admitted to having 'at times, touched men in an unwanted, sensual way.'
The star's growing list of accusers also included one woman who claimed Tait supplied a date-rape drug to a crew member who then allegedly raped her during a Newsboys tour, Christian Post reported.
Randall Crawford also came forward publicly and claimed Tait drugged and sexually assaulted him in 2000.
Crawford had worked with Tait and other members in DC Talk, and one night found himself blacked out after one shot of whiskey offered by Tait and awoke to find the star performing a sex act on him.
'I believe we'd both be in the music industry today if it weren't for Michael Tait,' Crawford said.
'The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench,' Jones added. 'And that's true for the Christian music industry as well. Even more so, in my case.'