Mauricio Tapia, frontman of popular California-based rock band Los Retros, has been charged with unlawful acts involving a child. The charges come just days before Tapia was due to play a show in Los Angeles.
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According to The New York Post, Tapia has been "hit with four felony counts of unlawful acts with a child under the age of 10 in Ventura County Superior Court on Monday...Tapia also faces several disturbing special allegations, including that the victim was vulnerable and that he allegedly took advantage of them from a position of trust."
Los Retros has been growing in popularity in recent years. The band played at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in April. However, the band has now been removed from the Stones Throw 30 music festival. The organizers of the festival have since released a short statement via Instagram.
"Yesterday, we learned of extremely serious and disturbing allegations against Mauri Tapia, professionally known as Los Retros," the statement read. "We had previously announced the cancellation of his scheduled performance at Stones Throw 30 before we were aware of these circumstances. In light of this information, we are taking steps to disassociate ourselves from Tapia and his work. We take these allegations seriously and will continue to assess the situation as more information becomes available."
The New York Post has reported that Tapia has not entered a plea. His bail has been set at $3 million.
Los Retros Has a Huge Fanbase
The news about Tapia will undoubtedly shock the Los Retros fanbase. In recent years, that fanbase has grown exponentially, with Spotify showing over 2.7 million monthly listeners. When accounting for other streaming platforms such as Apple Music and YouTube Music, that listener base is likely closer to 10 million per month.
Songs such as "Someone To Spend Time With" and "Atrak" have amassed hundreds of millions of streams.
With such a large following, any court case involving Tapia will undoubtedly be widespread news. For now, though, the charges will keep the public waiting to see how everything unfolds. Tapia's next court date is scheduled for Thursday, October 22.
