Okay I have to start by saying a disclaimer: I hate articles like this sometimes. I don’t mind drama when there’s at least some evidence here and there going around but when it’s just he-said she-said shit then it feels like I’m reporting on a YouTube comment section where everyone is lying/wrong about everything. Then again, if I don’t touch on this and it turns out to have some merit, I’ll be the guy who covered Zatch Bell getting a new manga but not a voice actor committing crimes. So it’s pretty much a lose-lose. I’m going to try and boil down the situation as much as possible while providing a link to the victim’s full public statement for the interested. 

Essentially there is an Ohio man that claims Daman Mills, a voice actor and ADR director with Funimation, molested him while he was the age of fifteen and Daman was around 20-21 years old. The Ohio man did not give out his name for privacy reasons and thus asked to be called Duncan when giving his story to the Anime News Network over a video call. The document states Daman committed several acts of disgusting and invasive behavior such as emotional outrage in texts, begging to sleep with Duncan despite the fact that Duncan is straight and was uncomfortable with the idea, and even going as far as to masturbate next to Duncan at night and caress his body while sleeping. If Duncan or his mom got angry Daman would victimize himself and argue that he was being hated for his sexuality. There’s even more stuff in the document and allegedly even more crimes by Daman that are not listed. Duncan ends the document by stating he doesn’t so much care about hurting Daman and hopes that he has since become better as a person, but instead shared his story to encourage others to speak up.

Careful now, you know how they treat molesters in prison.

Again I merely provided a recap and interested parties can check the whole document for the most accuracy. The document was created back in October of 2021, and Daman has since sent a cease and desist letter to Duncan on February 18th last month claiming that the allegations are entirely false and asserts the relationship was mutual and consensual. As for hard evidence? There’s not much so far if any. Aside from the document, Duncan provided screenshots of conversations he had with Daman to the Anime News Network. As I’m sure we’re all aware though, screenshots aren’t exactly the most tamper-proof kind of evidence. In fact, ANN even writes that the pictures were edited to make sure the victim’s true name wasn’t revealed. So we are made aware that the images have been altered.

And where does that leave us? Back at the start, not really knowing if either side is telling the truth. Apparently Daman Mills’ legal counsel gave Duncan until February 25th to retract his statements or face legal consequences. At the time of writing, March 10th, the document is still up and available and not retracted so I’m not sure what happened to that deadline. Point is, there’s currently no way to know who is telling the truth. I saw some other news outlet bring attention to the fact that Daman was a big proponent of the Kick Vic movement and that this whole thing could possibly be a way of showing him what happens when a community “believes all victims” as Daman previously posted was the right thing to do on Twitter. But again, who fucking knows at this point.

Nothing like an edited screenshot to make solid proof baybee.

All right, let’s wrap this up. If some concrete resolutions occur I'll either do a follow up article or update this one depending on their severity. As of right now I assume most of what’s happening is in the legal realm and thus behind closed doors. We may never hear the full story and outcome if documents, records, and testimonies are sealed so don’t hold your breath. Did you follow Daman Mills before this? Do you have a take on the situation? Ask their age, get consent and leave a comment below!