Riff Raff, the rapper who’s faced two allegations of sexual assault this year, is due to stand trial in a $12m civil case stemming from an alleged 2014 assault, despite the fact that a criminal investigation—launched over the same allegations—was tossed due to inconsistent evidence.
According to court documents viewed by music website Pitchfork, the civil case, in which a Jane Doe accuser is seeking $12 million in damages from Riff Raff (born Horst Christian Simco) and his frequent collaborator DollaBillGates (Eric Lasaan Bing) will come before a Nevada jury on May 28, 2019.
The woman told police that on Aug. 31, 2014, Doe and an acquaintance (identified in documents as Sara) accompanied the two men to a bungalow at the Bunny Ranch brothel after a concert nearby. Doe claimed Riff Raff then took a bag full of the cash that the women had earned earlier that night as dancers and said, “If you want this money back, you are both going to fuck me,” and, “If you don’t, you’re not going to like what’s going to happen and you are not getting your precious money back.”
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According to the complaint, Jane Doe said the women agreed to have sex with Riff Raff and DollaBillGates, after which the rappers gave them their money back.
Riff Raff denied the allegations, saying in a court declaration from Sept. 14, 2016: “I did not sexually assault [Jane Doe], nor did I have any sexual contact with her whatsoever.”
Pitchfork reports the other woman, Sara, also denied their had been any sexual assault in an interview with cops, saying she was not “fearful,” nor did she “feel forced” and that Jane Doe was “just trying to make up stories.”
The criminal case was closed, with the investigating detective saying Doe’s “unbelievable and ever-changing accounts preclude this investigation from continuing further.” He cited 14 discrepancies in the case, Pitchfork says.
However, Doe’s civil suit remained open.
Earlier this year, Riff Raff was accused of rape by an Australian woman who alleged he sexually assaulted her in 2013, when she was 19 years old, after drugging her with codeine and alcohol.
In a disturbing Facebook post, Eliza Stafford, an Australian woman from Melbourne, accused Riff Raff of drugging and raping her.
After being invited backstage, Staffford alleges she was “offered a 60ml ‘party’ shot. I took the shot, it was syrup and I immediately asked what it was. Riff Raff and his support act told me that it was codeine and started laughing. I don’t remember anything from that point. I woke up as Riff Raff was pulling out of me and getting into the shower.”
She spoke out after Riff Raff announced a new tour of Australia, which was swiftly canceled by the promoters.
He denied the allegations. In a video called “Trial by Media,” he stated, “Never once have I forced a girl to have sex. Never once have I forced a girl to do any type of drugs. I don’t want to have a girl drunk and sleepy.”
Days later, another woman came forward to accuse Riff Raff of sexual misconduct. Kelsey Doucette alleged Riff Raff tried to coerce her into sex when she was just 17, during the Milwaukee stop of Warped Tour 2015.
After getting the rapper’s number during a meet-and-greet, Doucette told Jezebel that she was invited on to his tour bus, where he allegedly touched her forcefully before she managed to get away.
Doucette tweeted about the incident at the time.
Pitchfork reports Doe’s legal case now references these allegations, saying they make her alleged assault “part of a pattern of perversion preceded by multiple other undisclosed acts of perverted conduct and sexual assault of young women.”
Pitchfork says the motion also cites another incident, an allegation by two women who accused the rapper of masturbating in front of them without their consent.
When contacted by Pitchfork, Riff Raff’s lawyer said in a statement, “Mr. Simco and his representatives take allegations of sexual misconduct very seriously. This case is set for a jury trial in May of 2019, and Mr. Simco looks forward to the opportunity to clear his name.”
