Justin Sane, frontman of the punk band Anti-Flag, has been sued for alleged sexual assault by Kristina Sarhadi, a holistic therapist and health coach from New York. The lawsuit, filed on November 22, 2023, in New York, also names the band’s distribution company, with Sarhadi seeking unspecified damages.
Sarhadi’s allegations date back to an October 2010 encounter, which she initially discussed anonymously on the “Enough” podcast in July 2023. She later identified Sane, whose real name is Justin Geever, as the alleged perpetrator. In her account, Sarhadi describes attending a party with Sane, after which he invited her to his motel room to listen to an unreleased song. Once there, she alleges that Sane restrained and strangled her before forcing her to perform oral sex. She recalls, “It was the most terrifying thing I’ve ever experienced… I fully believed I was going to die.”
Following Sarhadi’s initial revelations, Anti-Flag disbanded and deleted their social media accounts. Sane publicly denied the allegations, stating he had “never engaged in a sexual relationship that was not consensual.” However, a September 2023 investigation by Rolling Stone reported that 12 additional women accused Sane of predatory behavior, sexual assault, and statutory rape, with incidents dating back to the 1990s.
Sarhadi’s lawsuit was filed under the New York Adult Survivors Act, which provided a one-year window for victims of sexual offenses to file suits regardless of the statute of limitations. This window closed on November 23, 2023. Her attorney, Karen Barth Menzies, commented, “Accountability is only attainable when survivors stand up for themselves and each other.”
As of now, Justin Sane has not publicly responded to the lawsuit.
