Coalesce has issued a formal response following public allegations against guitarist Jes Steineger. The claims, which originated on Reddit, involve alleged inappropriate conduct between Steineger and a 24-year-old student during his tenure as a university professor.
In a statement released via Instagram on December 23rd, the band confirmed they had conducted an internal review of the situation after Steineger informed them of the matter earlier this year.
The Band’s Position
Coalesce describes the situation as stemming from a mutual but inappropriate email exchange that ultimately led to Steineger’s resignation from his academic position. The band maintains that their review of the evidence does not support claims of sexual misconduct or predation.
“Jes has consistently acknowledged fault for initiating private email contact and for not immediately alerting the university, which contributed to his personal resignation from the academy. This matter arose in an academic context, and while Jes is a member of coalesce, no band-related status, access, or influence played any role in what occurred.”
The band further detailed the extent of the physical interactions as they understand them:
“The physical contact that has been referenced publicly consisted of consensual interactions, which included student-initiated ‘pinky swears’ and two non-sexual hugs, after which he did not pursue or encourage any further physical contact. Nothing resembling sexual misconduct, predation, or assault occurred.”
The Accuser’s Rebuttal
Following the band’s statement, the accuser updated her Reddit post on December 24th, disputing the band’s characterization of the timeline and the nature of the physical contact. She alleges that the interactions spanned a longer period than the band’s account suggests and has offered to release further documentation.
“If only two days are disclosed for ‘full transparency’, I will upload every single email from the entire 4 week span we communicated on that account on this platform. I don’t care how embarrassing. It was not two days. I will not stand for mistruth.”
The student also addressed the band’s description of the physical events:
“The ‘two hugs and a pinky promise’ stuff is not even accurate… No university parts ways with someone over two hugs and a pinky promise. He resigned because legal and HR stepped in. He resigned because there was a mountain of written evidence.”
Current Status
While Coalesce has stated they “stand behind Jes,” the accuser has signaled an intent to provide additional records to the public. As of now, neither the full email chains nor official university records have been released to verify the conflicting accounts.
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