Julian Koster of the Neutral Milk Hotel denies allegations of sexual assault and abuse

Neutral Milk Hotel bassist Julian Koster is accused of sexually assaulting and abusing a teenage woman.

Anna “Nesey” Gallons, a musician and member of the Elephant 6 Collective, claimed in a series of Instagram posts starting July 9 that Koster began grooming in 2000, when she was 15 and he was in his late 20s.

Koster denied the allegations Thursday in a statement posted on the Instagram account of his podcast and music/performance art group @orbitinghumancircus.

“I have been a victim of intimidation, manipulation and abuse by Nesey Gallons for many years,” he wrote, adding that the musician’s statements were “part of a campaign against me.”

USA TODAY has reached out to Gallons and Koster for comment.

Nesey Gallons claims relationship with Julian Koster became “sexual” when she was 16

“I began speaking regularly by phone and email with Julian Koster at the age of 15 in the early 2000s, each exchange becoming gradually more intimate, if seemingly innocuous,” Gallons wrote. “He gave me the impression that our connection was unlike anything he had ever known.”

Gallons claims they entered into a “sexual relationship” less than a year later, in April 2001, six weeks before her seventeenth birthday.

“This constitutes grooming by any standard definition,” she wrote.

Gallons also claimed that Koster sexually assaulted her twice in the summer of 2005 and that she did not say anything about it for many years because the two remained close friends.

Julian Koster says the relationship was “consensual” and denies the allegations

On Thursday, Koster denied the allegations of sexual assault and abuse, writing on Instagram that Gallon’s “campaign” against him was documented in “thousands of disturbing, abusive and obsessive messages.”

Koster added that he and Gallons allegedly “entered into a consensual relationship in 2001 that lasted until 2008.”

“When the relationship began, I was 28 and Nesey was 16, just shy of her 17th birthday,” Koster continued. “Although she was above the legal age of consent in Georgia when our relationship began, it was wrong to allow the relationship to occur in the first place and I have apologized to Nesey many times for that. I should have handled the age difference more responsibly, but I deny all other allegations she has made.”

Nesey Gallons says she was unable to report Julian Koster due to “psychological and emotional manipulation”

In her posts, Gallons wrote that she avoided reporting Koster because she was “groomed, assaulted and psychologically and emotionally manipulated.”

“I felt a responsibility to protect my friends in the (Elephant 6) community and our fans, and held on to that until the first utterances of this story in any form came from my shattered lips in 2020, naming names, quickly silenced when confronted with the possibility of reconciliation, and then erased by his zealous PR team,” Gallons wrote.

She said that “other people close to him,” including “real adults,” could have reported him and his actions, and in particular could have denounced Neutral Milk Hotel founder Jeff Mangum.

Gallons concluded, “It’s about finding peace and moving on.”

Julian Koster accuses Nesey Gallons and her husband of “disturbing behavior”

Koster wrote in his statement: “Anyone who knows me now or back then knows that I always try from the bottom of my heart to approach people with empathy and love, including Nesey. Over the past few years, I have worked hard to build a friendship, listen to her and acknowledge the pain she feels.”

“My efforts were met with increasingly disturbing behavior from Nesey and (spouse Paul Gallon), including thousands of threatening and manipulative messages designed to punish me for not agreeing to their wishes.”

Koster claims that Gallons and her partner “demanded” the bassist “to enter into a romantic relationship with them, to marry Nesey, to move in with them, far away from my friends and family, to support them, and to allow them to control me emotionally, physically, and sexually.”

Gallons and her husband have not responded to Koster’s allegations.

Koster concluded that he could “no longer bear to be abused and controlled” and was seeking a restraining order against both of them.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Neutral Milk Hotel’s Julian Koster charged with sexual assault