Journey Drummer Indicted on Rape, Slew of Charges

Deen Castronovo bombarded victim with texts, calls after order to stay away
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 1, 2015 9:15 AM CDT
Journey Drummer Indicted on Rape, Slew of Charges
This booking photo provided by the Marion County Sheriff's Office taken in Salem, Ore., June 14, 2015, shows Deen Castronovo, drummer for the rock band Journey.   (Marion County Sheriff's Office via AP)

Journey drummer Deen Castronovo was arrested in Oregon on June 14 and charged with misdemeanor assault and menacing, but he was released on $20,000 bail and told to stay away from the alleged victim, per the Statesman Journal. A few weeks later, he's back behind bars after reportedly violating that order and facing a slew of new charges, including felony rape, sexual assault, and unlawful use of a dangerous weapon, reports the AP. This time there's no bail after a judge agreed with Deputy DA Jennifer Gardiner that Castronovo's "continued threats and contact presents a risk to be released." What nixed his bail this time: the 122 texts and 35 phone calls he's accused of making to the reported victim—TMZ says it's his wife—after he was released in June.

"In some of those messages he was screaming at her that he hated her, that she was ruining his life," Gardiner told the court, per the AP, adding that the messages alternated between suicidal, apologetic, and threatening. Castronovo, "quite frankly, is unstable," Gardiner said. It's not Castronovo's first trouble with the law: In 2012, he was arrested in a domestic violence incident and ordered to undergo anger-management classes and do 80 hours of community service, the AP notes. In the meantime, Journey has replaced Castronovo with Omar Hakim on tour. "We thank you Omar. You did an amazing job tonight. Looking forward to all the gigs coming up," the band wrote in a June 21 Facebook post. (A Frenchman got in trouble for texting and calling his ex more than 21,000 times.)

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