Quite a shock tonight to see that a woman in Arizona has filed a rape lawsuit against Sting. The woman, a Jane Doe, says Sting raped her in 1979 when she was 15 and he was 27. She says he wrote the song, “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” based on the experience. This woman must have a very active imagination, and a dangerous one. Sting has denied the whole thing through his attorney, and of course, he’s telling the truth.
Some rock stars, maybe you could say, ‘I could see that’ when you hear bad things about them. Sting was married in 1979 to Frances Tomelty and had a three year old son. He was then as he is now, a mensch for all seasons. He hadn’t begun his period of being a world ambassador, a supporter of indigenous people, Amnesty International, and so on. But read his book, “Broken Music.” He’s been the same from beginning to now. Jane Doe has chosen the wrong target for this insane claim. He’s one of the most moral people I’ve ever met.
And family man? He and Tomelty had a daughter, Kate, in 1982. And then Sting, who’d fallen in love with Trudie Styler, had four more kids. Sting and Trudie have been happily coupled since the mid 80s. They have eight grandchildren. I’m sure he was no saint when The Police were at the apex– he’s a man and he’s a rock star– but this? A 15 year old? Not even the most remote chance.
But the clue to all this, I think, is the claim that the song was written about this incident. Sting is really a writer of fiction. His compositions are story songs, filled with characters who have imagined situations. Whoever Jane Doe is, she’s conflated her own imagination with reality. In this time when accusations are indeed flying, it’s a shame a law firm anywhere would entertain her claim as possibly true. I’d bet my own life on it.
