Indie-rocker Joe Seiders has been arrested on child pornography charges. The New Pornographers drummer was taken into custody on April 9 after reports were made against him.
The Riverside County Sheriff’s Office released a press release that detailed what led to his arrest.
“On Monday, April 7, 2025, at 3:55 p.m., deputies assigned to the Palm Desert Sheriff’s Station were dispatched to a suspicious circumstance in the 73000 block of Dinah Shore Drive, Palm Desert,” the report read. “Upon arrival, deputies spoke with an 11-year-old male who stated an unknown male adult recorded him on a cell phone while he was using the restroom at the location.”
Two days later, authorities received another call from the same location.
“An employee stated a male was entering and exiting the restroom with juvenile males at the business. Believing the male was the suspect from the previous incident, law enforcement was contacted,” the report read. “Upon arrival, deputies located the suspect, identified as 44-year-old Joseph Seiders of Palm Desert, and took him into custody.”
After serving search warrants for Seiders’ “residence, vehicle, and cell phone,” evidence was found implicating the musician “in the two reported incidents, along with additional crimes, including possessing child pornography.”
Seiders is now booked in an Indio jail on charges of possession of child pornography, annoying/molesting a child, invasion of privacy and attempted invasion of privacy.
The investigation is ongoing with officers believing “there may be additional victims.”
According to The Guardian, he is being held on a $1 million bail and is due in court on April 22.
The New Pornographers was founded in 1997 in Vancouver. Seiders’ bandmates issued a statement via Instagram after the news broke.
“Everyone in the band is absolutely shocked, horrified and devastated by the news of the charges against Joe Seiders — and we have immediately severed all ties with him,” they wrote. “Our hearts go out to everyone who has been impacted by his actions.”
Seiders joined the indie group in 2014 alongside vocalists Neko Case and Carl Newman, John Collins, Todd Fancey and Kathryn Calder.
Their latest single, “Ballad of the Last Payphone,” dropped on April 2.
“This song was inspired by a Raymond Carver story called ‘Fat’, and tells the story of a person visiting the last payphone in NYC where it currently sits, in the Museum of the City of New York,” the band explained on Instagram at the time.
“The narrator doesn’t know why they are so fascinated by it, but to us it should be obvious. Obvious to me, at least.”
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-330-0226.
