Christian Music Industry and Statutory Rape Problems
Raze Frontman Arrested
Group's 30-city tour canceled
JA'MARC DAVIS, 25, FOUNDER and member of ForeFront Records group Raze, was arrested by
police in Tulsa, Okla., Thursday night, March 1, on charges of molestation. The arrest
took place offstage at Tulsa's Brady Theater immediately following the group's first
concert on its 30-city "Amazing Pop Invasion" tour, in support of Raze's latest
release, The Plan.
According to Tulsa County District Court documents obtained by THE CCM UPDATE, Davis was
charged with five counts of lewd molestation, three counts of rape by instrumentation and
three counts of forcible sodomy. He is accused of having a sexual relationship with a
former back-up dancer for the group starting in 1998 when she was 13 and he was 22 and
continuing for more than a year. At press time, Davis remained jailed in Tulsa in lieu of
$550,000 bail.
Citing information from an arrest affidavit, the Tulsa World newspaper [Friday, March 2]
reported Davis met the victim and her family through their church and had been asked to
tutor the girl. She later traveled as a back-up dancer with Raze.
According to the Tulsa World article, the arrest affidavit says the girl told police she
had sexual contact 15 to 20 times with Davis during their relationship, at his residence,
her home and in his car. In June 1999, Davis reportedly told the director of his church
youth group about consensual sexual contact with the 13-year-old girl and with two other
16-year-old girls. A few days later, the 13-year-old also told a pastor at her church that
she and Davis had a sexual relationship.
A source within the Tulsa Police Department told THE CCM UPDATE that an investigation
initially began in 1999 when a counselor notified the department of the allegations
against Davis. The police initially thought there would be three victims in the case, but
because 16 is the legal age of consent in the state of Oklahoma, the official charges
filed were pertaining solely to the relationship Davis had with the 13-year-old girl.
The police department source said the investigation had been on and off over the past
year, but investigators were aware that Davis would be leaving the state over the next few
months, so the case was presented to the district attorney in an effort to make an arrest
while Davis was still in Tulsa. Davis, the source said, knew about the upcoming arrest.
As news of the arrest began to hit the Christian music industry on Friday [March 2],
ForeFront Records President Greg Ham issued a statement to the label's radio, retail and
media lists, saying that ForeFront was looking into the allegations against Davis. Last
week, Ham released an additional statement, saying, "In times like these, it is more
important than ever to support a brother in need. We stand behind our artist, and we are
in prayer for Ja'Marc and Raze. As this matter is now before the courts, it would be
inappropriate for us to make any further comments. As more information becomes available
we will issue additional statements."
Ham told THE CCM UPDATE that ForeFront was not aware of the incidents before Raze signed
to the label in the fall of '98. He said the label, at the time led by ForeFront
co-founders Dan Brock and Eddie DeGarmo, talked to "several people in relationship
with Raze." In December '98, the label released the group's EP. The first full album,
Power, bowed in June '99.
According to a March 1 statement by Teresa Davis, manager of Raze who is also Davis'
sister-in-law, Ja'Marc came forward two years ago and made management aware of a need for
restoration. Requests for an interview with Teresa were denied.
"His pastor and I have walked with him during the past two years and have been
actively involved in the restoration process," she said in the statement. "We
are in communication with the affected families and are aware this is not their
doing...." The statement continued, "We ask that you join us and pray for
Ja'Marc, the families affected and the other members of Raze. We are certain that these
allegations will be sorted out."
When asked about ForeFront's knowledge of Davis' confession two years ago, Ham declined to
comment. However, according to several sources who wished to remain anonymous, some people
in Nashville were aware that Davis was pulled off the road and took a six-month sabbatical
starting in the summer of '99. The remaining dates on the "Amazing Pop Invasion"
tour -- also featuring Tammy Trent, Whisper Loud, Aurora and UK DJ Doug Ross -- were
canceled last Wednesday. William Morris, booking agency for Raze, issued an official
statement, saying Raze members Mizzie Logan, Donnie Lewis and Todd Hanebrink planned to
take a few months off the road to "be home and regroup with their families and
churches and to seek God's will."
The statement claimed that Raze would continue, but the group felt the immediate need to
seek pastoral counseling in order to plan its next steps. Requests for interviews with
Raze members were denied. The remaining members of Raze and the other artists, with the
exception of Whisper Loud, did fulfill their Chattanooga, Tenn., date last Tuesday. After
meeting with Mizzie, Todd and Donnie, and their management on Saturday, March 2, concert
promoter Alan Knowles went ahead with the date.
"We went immediately into crisis management," Knowles told THE CCM UPDATE.
"Our immediate response was that certainly the actions of one don't need to affect
the other three in the group or the other groups on the tour. We also knew that we needed
to gather more information."
"We had some good sharing time with them," Knowles continued. "They were
completely caught off guard by the whole thing, and our approach was just to tell them we
were there to pray for them."
During the Chattanooga concert's intermission, the three artists addressed the audience,
saying Davis would not be with them through the remainder of the tour and asked the crowd
to be in prayer. Before the tour was officially canceled, other promoters were wrestling
with whether or not to go forward with their dates. According to William Morris'
statement, out of the 30 scheduled tour stops, about half of the promoters wanted to keep
their dates.
Cliff Reiser canceled Raze concerts he was promoting in both Lancaster and Toledo, Ohio.
"It's a public perception problem," Reiser said. "Sometimes the Christian
community makes up its mind about something early on, but this is a difficult thing
because even though you're talking about only allegations, they are talking about sexual
abstinence at the concerts."
Last week, Christian radio stations began to pull Raze's music from their rotations, and
Christian retail stores were in the process of making decisions about shelving the band's
product.
Rick Anderson, senior music buyer for Berean Christian Stores issued the following
instructions to the chain's outlets: "In light of these allegations, effective
immediately, all Berean Christian Stores locations are to remove all products from the
group Raze from your shelves and return them to Chordant Distribution... This situation
obviously needs a lot of prayer for all parties involved, as well as the fans, who will no
doubt be affected by these unfortunate events. If, upon further investigation, Ja'Marc
Davis is exonerated of these charges, Berean will re-address this issue and consider
returning these items to our inventory."
Cheryl Greene, music buyer for The Parable Group, said last Wednesday that Parable had not
issued an official statement to its member stores but that Parable was pulling a Raze
promotion in the marketing group's upcoming catalog.
Davis' arraignment was held in Tulsa Wednesday morning, during which a preliminary hearing
was set for April 6 at 9 a.m. to determine if there is enough evidence to bring the case
to trial.
Source: http://www.ccmupdate.com/ccmupdate/01_03_12/news.html