BTBAM Guitarist’s Lawyer Refutes Rape Allegations in Statement

The lawyer for Between the Buried and Me guitarist Dustie Waring has issued a new statement refuting allegations of rape that were made against the musician earlier this year. Things came to a head back in May, with the musician issuing his own statement of denial while revealing that he planned to sit out the band’s “Parallax 2” tour to spend time with his family and focus on his sobriety and dealing with the matter privately with his bandmates.

The anonymous accuser’s graphic claims — which began with, “Dustie Waring, a monster who is 12 years my senior, raped and impregnated me” — can be read in full here.

Soon thereafter, the band posted a brief statement that read, “Dustie Waring will not be performing on the Parallax 2: Future Sequence Tour. We will have a session guitarist filling in at all scheduled dates.”

READ MORE: Study Says 1 in 5 Music Industry Workers Have Experienced Sexual Abuse, Harassment

Waring then followed with his own statement in early May. He posted on Instagram, “I have recently been made aware of allegations from 5 years ago which were posted this weekend on Reddit.”

Waring continued, “I do not condone non-consensual sex and have never acted without consent in any part of my private life or maliciously taken advantage of anyone. These allegations have come as a complete shock, having dedicated my life to being of service to people that need help in many forms of recovery.”

Waring then added, “I will therefore be taking some time to spend with my family to focus on maintaining my several years of sobriety, which will include sitting out the Parallax II tour. With the exception of this statement, I will be dealing with this matter privately with my bandmates and discussing any future action with my lawyer in order to protect myself and my family.”

That brings us to up to the present, with Waring’s lawyer, Chad Diamond, Esq., sharing a public statement in which he disputes the allegations against the guitarist and calling for the accuser to cease and desist from continuing to post her allegations. The statement in full can be read below:

To Whom It May Concern:

We write on behalf of our client Dustie Waring to deny in the strongest terms the malicious and false accusations that have recently surfaced against him in an anonymous post on a Reddit page. In that post, a female, former friend and fan is now preying on him by accusing him of raping her in a bathroom after a concert more than five years ago.

In support of her accusations, she has manipulated and posted several screenshots of Instagram messages between Mr. Waring and herself – reducing seven months of messages to just four screenshots and leaving out other messages that do not support her allegations in a vicious attempt to destroy Mr. Waring’s character and reputation and personally gain attention for herself by posing as the ‘victim’ of a crime that never took place. Additionally, she has invented the story that there were confrontations between Mr. Waring and a male friend of hers who accompanied her that evening, and who tried to prevent Mr. Waring from having sex with her that evening.

In fact, Mr. Waring has never denied that he had sexual intercourse with his accuser after the concert, but steadfastly maintains that the encounter was a consensual act between the two adults. As proof, Mr. Waring’s accuser goes on to discuss traveling to attend subsequent concerts during his UK tour, telling him she wants him to visit the UK to ‘do it again sometime,’ and suggests they ‘rent an Airbnb’, etc. In her Reddit post, she alleges she didn’t remember they had sex, and that she was ‘sore’ after their encounter; however, she acknowledges remembering their encounter and states that she had not been ‘sore,’ as she earlier claimed.

Her messages show that two days after the alleged incident, she made a two-hour trip to visit him in a different city on the tour, during which time they had a second sexual encounter. Over the next few months, she continued to message Mr. Waring on Instagram and sent him numerous explicit messages and photos, making her recent claims of having been impregnated dubious at best. She recounts the details of their sexual encounter (despite claiming not to remember it in her Reddit post), describes it as ‘amazing’, asks him if ‘it was good for him’, tells him ‘thanks for last night, it was crazy fun :)’, and agrees that they had ‘good sex’.

Mr. Waring was blindsided by these accusations and has been forced to suffer serious personal consequences – financial and otherwise – as a direct result of his accuser’s conduct. It is obvious from the weight of the evidence that her accusations are false, and that he is innocent of the acts of which he is accused and has steadfastly denied having any inappropriate contact with this woman. Unfortunately, her false accusations are the type of thing that makes it even more difficult for actual victims of sexual violence to come forward and to be believed.

Because of these allegations, Mr. Waring has been advised to take a leave of absence from music to avoid further damage to the projects he’s associated with, but he is obviously looking forward to getting back to making music after the summer. He has demanded that his accuser cease and desist from continuing her baseless accusations.

Should she fail to do so, Mr. Waring will have no choice but to publicize the entire set of Instagram messages to provide the full details and context for the messages his accuser has posted, which flatly contradict her story, demonstrate her lack of credibility, and reveal her actual motivation for making these baseless and defamatory allegations.

Furthermore, he will take legal action against all parties involved to defend himself and his reputation from this woman’s allegations.

Yours very truly, Chad Diamond, Esq.
Attorney for Dustie Waring CTD

Waring had also missed time earlier in the year while prioritizing his health and “resolving a long time injury.” He issued a statement in February that noted,  “I pre-recorded my parts for the setlist so, you won’t see me, but you’ll hear me. The guys have worked very hard to put together an absolutely ripping setlist so I’d encourage you to catch a show or two. Looking forward to seeing you all again soon.”

While Waring has been out of action, the band has returned to the road with North American tour dates that will keep them out through July 31 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, resources are available for help. Visit the RAINN website (Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network) or dial 800-656-HOPE (800-656-4673).