Jimmy Urine, the 51-year-old musician who fronted the electropunk act Mindless Self Indulgence, has been sued for the sexual battery of a minor, as Rolling Stone revealed on Monday (Aug. 9).
Urine, whose real name is James Euringer, stands accused of initiating a two-year sexual relationship with a child who was 15 years old at the outset, starting in January 1997, when Urine was 27. The lawsuit, which leaves the accuser unidentified since she was under 18 when the alleged crime occurred, was filed in New York Supreme Court on Monday, as confirmed by Pitchfork.
Content warning: The following contains descriptions of alleged sexual battery.
The suit claims that Urine sexually “groomed” the accuser and “manipulated [her] into believing that his sexually assaultive behavior was not criminal, and that by engaging in sexual activity with him, Plaintiff was actually helping to protect younger girls from sexual assaults.”
The suit continues, “During this time, [the musician] acted as and treated Plaintiff as though she was his girlfriend and the two were in a consensual relationship.” It alleges that Urine took pictures of her naked and made her “act like a small child and suck her thumb, drool and pee in her pants” during sexual acts.
He also allegedly provided her with a fake ID to attend concerts and drink alcohol with him, even though he “tried to hide their relationship by telling her not to act affectionately with him while in public,” Rolling Stone reported. The Mindless Self Indulgence bandleader allegedly knew her age, says the suit, since he purportedly sent her a birthday greeting for her 15th birthday.
Warner Music Group Corp, its former parent company, Warner Communications, and Elektra Entertainment Group (Mindless Self Indulgence’s label until 2002) are all listed as co-defendants in the lawsuit, alongside the group’s former manager and producer Joseph Galus.
It accuses Elektra and Galus of aiding and abetting sexual battery, claiming they were aware of Urine’s behavior and even enabled it. (An Elektra A&R rep allegedly saw Urine frequently touching and kissing the girl during recording sessions and elsewhere, the suit says, as did Galus.) Additionally, Elektra’s charged with green-lighting a Mindless Self Indulgence T-shirt that featured a photo of the woman while she was underage.
“With their knowledge, relationship to Euringer, and control over Euringer, his shows, his music and at times his access to minors, Defendants had the opportunity and ability to stop Euringer’s sexual assaults, and to protect Plaintiff and others, but did not,” the suit states. “As a result, Plaintiff has suffered humiliation, shame, and horror that she will continue to suffer for the rest of her life.”
Rolling Stone pointed out that Mindless Self Indulgence built its career around shocking language and suggestive tactics. In a 1996 advertisement seeking a drummer, as noted in the suit, the band said they were looking for a percussionist who didn’t “mind drumming for a band of pedophiles.” The album art for the outifit’s 1999 debut album, Tight, shows a close-up drawing of what appears to be a young girl’s underwear; the Mindless Self Indulgence song “Panty Shot” contains language that could be interpreted to be about sexually assaulting a 5-year-old.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, resources are available to help. Please visit RAINN (Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network) online or dial 800-656-HOPE (800-656-4673).
