A new round of scathing sexual assault accusations has been leveled against former Newsboys frontman Michael Tait.
The latest shocking revelations were reported in the Guardian last week. They allege that Tait, who was also a founding member of DC Talk, groomed and assaulted underage men and allegedly drugged them during the early 2000s.
The Guardian report is based on a months-long investigation that includes interviews with at least 25 people connected with the Christian music scene, all admitting “they had prior knowledge of allegations that Tait had engaged in abusive behavior.”
Two victims agreed to speak on the record about what’s being called the “biggest open secret in Christian music,” and four others say they were between the ages of 13 to 29 when the alleged grooming began.
“All grew up in evangelical churches where Tait’s music was the premier soundtrack of their youth groups, summer camps, and mission trips. Having taken the message of Tait’s songs to heart, they were naive about sex and drugs throughout their youth,” wrote Josiah Hesse for The Guardian. “All were starstruck when meeting their childhood hero, but quickly saw their image of him as a role model of Christian piety dissolve as they were taken on a bumpy ride of rock’n’roll debauchery.”
Shawn Davis claims Tait pushed him to consume drugs and alcohol and believes that on one occasion he was drugged and molested by the singer, when he was still a minor.
“This man destroyed my life,” Davis told the outlet.
Two other men, who gave the outlet the names Gabriel and Adam, alleged that they were also drugged and inappropriately touched by the singer.
“This person has stolen a little piece of our souls,” Adam said.
Gabriel told the outlet he “blamed God” for the trauma he endured from the alleged encounter.
“Tait was presented as the pinnacle of godliness,” he said. “I get that all people sin, but to use the facade of his righteousness to commit sin, that made me walk away from my faith for a while. He took something from me I’ll never get back. In time, though, I found my own way back to God.”
As CBN News reported, a more than two-year investigation by the Roys Report was released in early June alleging that three men were groomed and sexually assaulted by Tait between 2004 and 2014.
Days after that report, current Newsboys members released a statement saying they were “devastated” by the report of the accusations against Tait. They also asked other victims to come forward.
It took more than a week for Tait to confess to his lewd behavior.
In a statement posted to his Instagram account titled, “My Confession,” Tait admitted that he “lied and deceived” friends, family, and fans and “misled” bandmates for years about aspects of his life.
“I was, for the most part, living two distinctly different lives. I was not the same person on stage Sunday night as I was at home on Monday,” the 59-year-old wrote.
He added, “I don’t blame anyone or anything but myself. While I might dispute certain details in the accusations against me, I do not dispute the substance of them.”
One of the victims called out the Christian music industry for enabling Tait’s behavior saying, “Knowledge about Tait’s predator behavior is so intrinsic to Christian music, his nails are burrowed into the fabric of it, that any validation of his behavior invalidates the whole industry.”
“There are three types of people in Nashville: Those who know the stories about Tait, are survivors and are terrified; Those who validate the stories about Tait, believe them to be true and wait for the day justice happens; And those who will cash a check with Tait despite knowing the truth.”
K-LOVE, the nation’s largest Christian radio network, and multiple other stations have pulled all music from the Newsboys and DC Talk.
“We are aware of the allegations against Michael Tait, former frontman of the Newsboys. As the investigation proceeds, our thoughts and prayers are with all those involved,” a K-LOVE spokesperson with the radio network told CBN News earlier this month. “There are many factors that go into radio programming decisions, including the curation of playlists. At this time, there are no Newsboys songs in our rotation.”
“We have rested Newsboys and DC Talk from our Decades’ streams online,” the statement continued.
