Go-Go's Guitarist Is Latest to Accuse 'Rodney on the ROQ' DJ Of Abuse

LOS ANGELES, CA — Go-Go's guitarist Jane Wiedlin claims in remarks published Monday that she was sexually assaulted when she was 15 years old by radio host Rodney Bingenheimer when she and her underage friends visited his famed Sunset Strip club English Disco in the 1970s.

Wiedlin makes the claim in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, which includes similar allegations by four other women.

According to Rolling Stone, Bingenheimer, who now hosts a show on SiriusXM, did not respond to a detailed list of questions seeking response to the allegations by Wiedlin and the other women.

Wiedlin told the magazine she and her friends would frequently sneak out of their houses and visit the English Disco, which was a magnet for big- name musicians of the era. She said that during one of the visits, a then-27- year-old Bingenheimer took her into a back room of the club and sexually assaulted her.

She said he began grinding "against my crotch," leaving her surprised, frozen and unable to say anything or react.

Wiedlin said he asked her to remove her belt because it was "in the way," and he ejaculated on her clothing.

"I wasn't entirely sure what had gone down until we went back out," she told Rolling Stone. "He disappeared (into the crowd), I went back to my friends, and my satin pants were a big mess. It was weird; it never occurred to me that that had been a crime. I didn't know what to think. It wasn't until the #MeToo movement started when I realized I was sexually assaulted by (an adult) when I was 15."

Bingenheimer was sued late last year by Runaways co-founder Kari Krome, who also accused him of sexual assault when she was a minor. Her suit also named as a defendant the late record producer Kim Fowley.

Bingenheimer, known as the "Mayor of the Sunset Strip," hosted "Rodney on the ROQ" on KROQ from 1976 to 2017. Bingenheimer now hosts a radio show on Little Steven's Underground Garage channel on SiriusXM.

Fowley was a well-known record producer, songwriter and musician. He also managed The Runaways in the 1970s and died in 2015 at age 75. Joan Jett also was a member of the Runaways, who had a hit song, "Cherry Bomb."

The suit alleges that after grooming Krome and establishing what Krome believed to be a foundation of trust, Bingenheimer sexually assaulted her for the first time in his apartment when she was only 13 years old. The alleged molestation continued for months, the suit states.

Bingenheimer introduced Krome to Fowley, who co-founded the all-girl band the Runaways with Krome, the suit states.

Shortly after signing Krome to a publishing deal on her 14th birthday, Fowley sexually assaulted Krome in his Los Angeles apartment and continued to molest her about six more times over the course of the next year, the suit alleges.

"I told people about these assaults when they happened and they didn't want to hear it," Krome said. "They didn't want to hurt their careers, or they didn't want to dispel their illusions about their idols."

Krome's suit alleges sexual assault and sexual battery. She seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

City News Service