Former drummer for 90s rock band Cake, Peter Ivan McNeal, has been sentenced to fifteen years to life in prison after a jury found him guilty of child molestation.
Spin has reported that former Cake drummer Pete McNeal has been sentenced to 15 years-to-life in prison for child molestation and has been ordered to register as a sex offender.
After molesting a three year old at a 2009 Thanksgiving gathering, McNeal was found guilty in March 2013 on one count of oral copulation of a child ten years or younger, and he has now been sentenced by LA County Superior Judge Fred Wapner to fifteen years to life in prison.
Prior to the 2013 charge, McNeal was also charged with a misdemeanor for attempted molestation of a six year old while volunteering at an L.A. school, after which he received a three-year probation.
Pete McNeal joined the Sacramento alt/rock band Cake back in 2001, and played with the band until 2004. McNeal replaced drummer Todd Roper, although he never played on any of the band’s studio albums.
According to Laist, the first trial on the same charge was declared a mistrial back in 2012, after the jury was hung.
The victim was visiting with her parents from Massachusetts, and it was testified that she played in a ball game with McNeal during the activities of the Thanksgiving event. The victim’s mother testified that her daughter said to her after dinner, “Why did that man want to put his penis in my mouth?” and then described the man who she played ball with as the perpetrator.
The victim’s mother also testified in court that when she asked her daughter what happened, “The girl took a metal Thermos bottle, held it to her crotch and “pushed it in my mouth” while moving her hips to demonstrate what McNeal had done.”
The victim’s parents decided to file charges after their daughter brought up the incident again, two years later. The family said they waited two years to be certain of their allegations before pressing charges.
Pete McNeal not only served as a drummer in Cake, but also worked with artists Norah Jones and Mike Doughty. The drummer is also a father of two. After his mistrial, TMZ reported that McNeal’s wife of thirteen years filed for divorce, although she stated that she trusted McNeal with their kids, and would agree to joint custody.
On Monday, McNeal was found guilty of both child molestation charges, and was taken into custody and held without bail.
UPDATE: Billboard has reported that McNeal has filed for an appeal to his sentence, after friends and relatives of McNeal stood by him and called his sentence a “gross failure of justice.”
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