Parkway Drive Share New Statement After Former Associate Avoids Jail Time

Parkway Drive

This article mentions sexual assault, harassment, and abuse. If you or someone you know is affected by these experiences and needs to contact someone, please contact 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit 1800RESPECT.org.au.

Metal icons Parkway Drive have shared a new statement reflecting on the problematic culture of their hometown in their early days, shortly after a former associate of the group avoided jail time for a historical child sex offence.

Last week, 45-year-old Jed Daniel Gordon – who is the brother of Parkway Drive drummer Ben Gordon and who has previously been described as the band’s “ex-merch guy” – was given a two-year apprehended domestic violence order and placed onto the child protection register after having plead guilty in March to having sexual intercourse with a minor.

The incident in question is reported to have occurred between November 1st, 2002, and July 11th, 2003. At the time of the incident, Gordon was in his early 20s, while the victim was aged 15.

In a new report by the ABC, the then-teenaged victim spoke to the publication and identified herself as Rachel Kila. Waiving her right to anonymity, Ms. Kila reflected on the toxic culture in which the month-long incidents of sexual abuse took place. "The facts are that he was an adult, and I was still a child,” she stated.

The ABC's investigation focuses on the numerous reports of victimisation by young girls in Byron Bay, noting that 35 people had come forward to discuss their own experiences, and referring to a "culture of public degradation they said was pervasive in the popular tourist resort town."

Parkway Drive did not comment further on their former association with Gordon, instead offering a statement to claim, "We reiterate our shock and distress about this situation."

According to the ABC, Gordon’s lawyer, John Weller, last week also denounced any further allegations levelled against the 44-year-old.

The problematic culture of Byron Bay was also underlined by a number of rap songs which Parkway Drive bassist Jia O'Connor prior to his time in the band. The lyrical content reportedly features "highly derogatory comments about individual teen girls and rap about perpetrating rape."

O'Connor did offer a statement to expressed his regret as “some of the songs”, explaining it was the work of “insecure teenagers” who were emulating the “hateful lyrics of Eminem and NWA without realising the consequences".

"In fact, many songs were never meant to be published, but some of the worst songs were leaked and ended up hurting people," O'Connor said in a statement offered to the ABC. “While it was a toxic culture for boys, it was so much worse for girls, and I am deeply sorry for contributing to that."

Parkway Drive themselves offered a statement to the publication in which they reflected on the cultural issues that affected Byron Bay at the time of their formation, citing issues relating to alcohol, drugs, violence, and the then-high unemployment rate that affected the area.

"Behaviours like power imbalances, consent issues, bullying were everywhere: in homes and in the streets, and girls and women did bear the brunt of it," the band told the ABC. "It's heartbreaking and unacceptable."

Upon Gordon’s guilty plea in March, Parkway Drive issued two statements, initially noting that his behaviour was “appalling and we condemn it,” and explaining that while Gordon’s actions “happened before we were a band,” they still “bear moral responsibility for contracting him from 2003, on and off over the years.”

“This is fucked, and this is Jed's reckoning to answer for,” vocalist Winston McCall later said in a video statement shared on social media. “It's his reckoning, and he will answer for it.

“We employed him for a long time, and we put him in a position where he had contact with a lot of people, and it's our moral responsibility to carry. That's our moral responsibility to carry. We see it, we see it, and we hold it.”