Former Cake Drummer Peter McNeal Sentenced to Prison for Child Molestation

Former Cake drummer Peter Ivan McNeal, 48, has been sentenced to prison after being found guilty of molesting a three-year-old girl. The incident, which occurred at a 2009 Thanksgiving celebration where McNeal was a guest, has landed the drummer 15 years to life behind bars.

This is not the first time McNeal has faced legal action for a sexual offense. In 2012, the former Cake member was charged with child sex abuse and released on $250,000 bail after attempting to molest a six-year-old girl while volunteering at a Los Angeles school. McNeal was given three years probation. The incident took place only two weeks after the Thanksgiving molestation.

McNeal’s first child molestation trial concerning the three-year-old victim was declared a mistrial, but during the drummer’s retrial, he was found guilty of one felony count of oral copulation and sexual penetration with the three-year-old back in 2013. Along with his prison time, McNeal will be listed as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

Peter McNeal performed with Cake from 2001-2004, though he did not appear on any of the band’s studio albums. Cake is best known for their ’90s alt-rock hits ‘The Distance’ and ‘Never There.’