RiFF RAFF going to trial next year in $12 million sexual assault lawsuit

[News]

In June, RiFF RAFF (née Horst Christian Simco) was accused of raping a 19-year-old Australian woman in 2013. The rapper soon saw his planned tour of Australia and New Zealand canceled, as well as a second allegation of sexual assault from a woman who was 17 at the time of the alleged incident. RiFF RAFF denied the allegations via a weird, since-deleted video, which saw him accompanied by an entertainment lawyer and a film director who claimed she was making a movie about the incident called “Trial By Media”.

Now, Pitchfork has uncovered another allegation of sexual misconduct on the part of RiFF RAFF, one that will go to trial in May of 2019. According to court documents reviewed by Pitchfork, the civil suit accuses both RiFF RAFF and his frequent collaborator, DollaBillGates (née Eric Lasaan Bing), of sexual assault, sexual battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, false imprisonment, and civil conspiracy. The plaintiff, a woman identified as Jane Doe, is asking for at least $12 million in damages to cover medical expenses, lost wages, physical, emotional, and psychological trauma, legal costs, and more.

The alleged incident took place in the early morning of August 31st, 2014 at Nevada’s Bunny Ranch brothel. Jane Doe and a friend identified in court documents as “Sara” joined RiFF RAFF and DollaBillGates in a bungalow at the Bunny Ranch, where RiFF RAFF allegedly took a bag of cash the women had made dancing earlier in the evening and said he wouldn’t give it back unless they had sex with him. “If you want this money back, you are both going to fuck me,” the complaint says. “If you don’t, you’re not going to like what’s going to happen and you are not getting your precious money back.”

Her feeling of being forced into the sexual encounter extends to DollaBillGates, who she says intimidated her by physically blocking the door. Later, she claims she and Sara were forced to perform sexual acts on him by RiFF RAFF.

According to documents, both RiFF RAFF and DollaBillGates deny all allegations of sexual assault, as does Sara, who disputes a number of Jane Doe’s allegations, including the detail regarding DollaBillGates blocking the door. Sara claims Jane Doe is “just trying to make up stories.” Jane Doe did, however, file a police report with the South Lake Tahoe Police Department on the day of the incident, and underwent a sexual assault examination the following day.

The criminal case was eventually closed, with a detective noting that he found 14 discrepancies in the case. “The reported assault cannot be proven due to the lack of physical evidence, forensic evidence, and direct evidence including the contradictory eye witness testimony of Sara,” a report from the detective said. “The above problematic issues couple with [Jane Doe’s] unbelievable and ever-changing accounts preclude this investigation from continuing further.”

The civil suit is ongoing, however, and in August Jane Doe’s lawyers filed a motion for sanctions against RiFF RAFF based on the sexual assault allegations against the rapper that surfaced earlier this year. The motion cites “a pattern of perversion preceded by multiple other undisclosed acts of perverted conduct and sexual assault of young women,” and claims that RiFF RAFF bullied and intimidated Jane Doe in addition to omitting facts. RiFF RAFF’s team has asked the court to strike the motion.

“Mr. Simco and his representatives take allegations of sexual misconduct very seriously,” a lawyer for RiFF RAFF told Pitchfork. “This case is set for a jury trial in May of 2019, and Mr. Simco looks forward to the opportunity to clear his name.”

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