According to the Spokesman-Review, all four members of Decapitated have been extradited from Los Angeles jail to Spokane, where they’d already been charged with kidnapping in the first degree. Since the Polish death metal band are back in the state where the incident took place back in August, they are now all officially being charged with rape. Rafal Piotrowski and Waclaw Kieltyka have been charged with second-degree rape, while Mikola Lysejko and Hubert Wiecek face a third-degree charge.
It’s also been reported that Kieltyka will appear in Superior Court today (13), according to his attorney.
The four members were arrested on September 9th, initially on suspicion of first-degree kidnapping following their show at The Pin, on August 31st. A woman told police that she saw all four members raping her after she was invited onto their tour bus.
Steven Graham, Lysejko’s attorney previously mentioned:
“We have witnesses that can testify to the fact that the accuser came to visit the band of her own free will and left on good terms. The accuser has a documented history of providing false information to the police dating back to 2014.”
Based on statelaws.findlaw.com, if the members are found guilty of these rape charges they could be faced with the following in the state of Washington, in addition to the kidnapping charge:
Rape, Second Degree
Engaging in forcible sexual intercourse without the victim’s consent, where:
- Perpetrator uses forcible compulsion;
- Victim is incapable of consent because he or she is physically helpless, mentally incapacitated or developmentally disabled.
Rape, Third Degree
Engaging in forcible sexual intercourse without the victim’s consent, where:
- Victim’s lack of consent was expressed by words or conduct or
- Perpetrator threatens substantial harm to victim’s property.
Rape, First and Second Degree: Class A felony punishable by up to life in prison and/or a $50,000 fine.
Rape, Third Degree: Class C felony, punishable by 5 (five) years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine.
On September 14th, Decapitated publicly denied all accusations against them and declared their innocence.
There is a lot of back and forth information surrounding this case including previous documents mentioning a volunteer who witnessed these women were “groping” and “all over” the lead singer and another member of the band, touching their backs, sides, and chests – “Feeling them up” – to the point where the man asked security if they needed to be kicked out. Nergal from Behemoth has previously urged everyone to restrain from all judgments until they are proven guilty or innocent. We can only assume that this will be a long process until the truth reveals itself, and while it might be tough to refrain from victim shaming or jumping to conclusions on either, that’s the most mature thing you can do.
