Former Parkway Drive merch manager Jed Gordon, brother of the band’s drummer Ben Gordon, received his sentencing earlier today (May 28) after pleading guilty in March to having sexual intercourse with a minor in the early 2000s.
In Byron Bay Local Court today (May 28), the 45-year-old Parkway Drive merch manager avoided jail time, which could have potentially carried a maximum sentence of 10-12 years. Instead, his sentence includes 300 hours of community service as part of a three-year community corrections order. Additionally, Gordon’s name now appears on the child protection register and he received a “two-year apprehended domestic violence order,” as reported by Australia’s ABC News.
Details of the Jed Gordon Case
Gordon’s criminal interactions with a minor took place between Nov. 1, 2002 and July 11, 2003, during which time the girl was 15 years old while Gordon was in his early 20s adulthood.
“Hey, I’ve seen you around, I think you are cute, we should meet up some time xjedx,” is the reported first text message Gordon sent to the underage girl. Both parties also acknowledged that Gordon was the one to initiate contact.
Between the aforementioned dates, Gordon initiated sexual intercourse multiple times via text message.
The woman reached out to Gordon in March of 2021, which reportedly sparked multiple interactions with Gordon and later lead to the June 2025 legal recording of a phone call. Australia’s ABC News reports that part of the transcript from the phone call captured Gordon confessing, “…as bad as it sounds, I wasn’t the only one hooking up with people.”
Gordon also reportedly said, “I haven’t had anyone reach out over the years and I didn’t, I didn’t know what I was doing. I was just a fuckin’ surf dude.”
The former Parkway Drive merchandise manager claims to be a “different person now” after he “entered criminality without thinking properly” while repeatedly initiating sexual intercourse with a 15-year-old as an adult in his early 20s. He is also said to have lost two jobs as a result of this court case, per his lawyer John Waller.
Meanwhile, the woman (now in her late 30s) described the toll Gordon’s crimes have taken on her in a victim impact statement:
The sexual and emotional abuse that he subjected me to has hindered my ability to navigate romantic, platonic, family and professional relationships. Because of this I have experienced re-victimization in emotionally abusive relationships, domestic violence or sexual harassment, assault and rape multiple times. I have been unable to care and provide for my children in the capacity that they deserve, as well as being unable to care for myself.
In his ruling, judge Geoffrey Dunlevy made the determination that Gordon has shown “significant insight” for remorse, which was a factor in his sentencing. The judge also stated that he was looking at the case through modern community standards of child sexual abuse and harm rather than through the lens of the early 2000s.
The woman was not present in the courtroom at the time of the ruling and, instead, watched via livestream.
How Did Parkway Drive Initially Respond?
Back in March, Parkway Drive singer Winston McCall issued an emotional apology through the band’s Instagram after Gordon’s guilty plea was given in court.
“No. 1, we support the victim. We support the victim 100 percent. She deserves justice. She deserves her space. She deserves her time. She deserves to be heard. We 100 percent support that after 20 years of trauma. I cannot imagine what that is like to bear,” the singer emotionally shared.
“No. 2. We condemn this. We condemn this without hesitation. If there was anything in our initial response that left people wondering anything about that. I want to make this crystal clear for everyone — this is fucked. This is fucked and this is Jed’s reckoning to answer for. It’s his reckoning and he will answer for it,” he added.
McCall went on to share, “We employed him for a long time and we put him in a position where he had contact with a lot of people. It’s our moral responsibility to carry. We see it and we hold it. We always try to see the best in people and sometimes that means you’re blind to the worst. Anyone who’s had bad interactions with Jed while [he was] employed with us, we’re so sorry.
We knew he could be bad with people and our reaction, there’s no excuse for that. I apologize, but we did not know the extent of his behavior. We did not know. We’ve been completely blindsided by this. The band found out about this through screenshots of court dates and documents that were already online circulating. We’re still finding out new information from a Sydney Morning Herald article we were apart of yesterday.”
READ MORE: Parkway Drive Singer Finds Something ‘Sacred’ in Positivity
Within the lengthy video, the Parkway Drive singer also shared a portion of his time speaking about the community in which the band came up in and how they’ve tried to provide a better space for all. He then directly spoke to both male and female members of the music community sharing his support for the female members of the community and plea to the men to do better by women. The full video can be seen below.
The group has yet to comment after the official sentencing for Gordon.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, resources are available for help. Visit the RAINN website (Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network) or dial 800-656-HOPE (800-656-4673).
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Gallery Credit: Chad Childers, Loudwire
