Former Journey drummer: 'I was a physically abusive man'
KEIZER, Ore. -- Perpetrator, abuser and batterer, these are the painful but deliberate words that Deen Castronovo uses to describe himself.
“It’s my truth, I have nothing to hide,” said the man who played drums for the rock band Journey. “I was a verbally abusive man. I was a physically abusive man.”
Castronovo seemed brutally honest during a no-holds barred interview Monday, Nov. 2, at his oldest son’s home in Keizer, where he has been living since he completed court-ordered drug rehabilitation.
For more than an hour, with no attorney or publicist by his side, Castronovo recounted details of what led up to his arrest for domestic violence charges in June and the subsequent plea deal he accepted Oct. 12 from Marion County prosecutors.
He apologized for tearing a tornado-like path of destruction through his family and his community, elaborated on the domestic violence and drug abuse counseling he is undergoing, and then apologized again.
“This is not about clearing my name,” he said. “The only way I’m going to get my family’s trust back is to walk the walk. I’ve let everybody in the community down, everyone who ever put any faith and trust in me.”
Castronovo issued a public apology on Friday, Oct. 30, through an entertainment publicist, and then offered his hometown news organization, Statesman Journal an opportunity to be the first to interview him in person.
“I want to talk to my community, that’s important,” he said. “I have to live here. I’ve lived here all my life. My children have gone to school here. My children have friends here.
“They deserve to be apologized to. I’ve got to make it right now, no matter what it takes or what it costs.”
Castronovo was sentenced to four years of supervised probation after pleading guilty to two counts of fourth-degree domestic violence assault, two counts of domestic violence menacing, one count of unlawful use of a weapon and one count of coercion.
The charges stemmed from an incident in June, the culmination of a volatile 6 1/2-year relationship with the victim, his former fiancée, whom Castronovo admits he emotionally, verbally and physically abused.
He said he will forever be indebted to her for calling police that day. Out of respect to her as a victim, we attempted to reach her before this column published but were unsuccessful.
Castronovo realizes there will be detractors, those who question everything he says or does as a calculated move to salvage a successful and lucrative music career. Before landing the gig with Journey in 1998, he played drums for the likes of Ozzy Osbourne and Bad English.
“If somebody really wants to show that they’ve changed, they don’t need the publicity,” said Jayne Downing, executive director of the Center for Hope & Safety, a local nonprofit that serves victims and survivors of domestic violence. “They just do the right thing.”
Trista Davis, program manager at Solutions Domestic Violence Intervention Program Inc., agreed.
“Because domestic violence happens in the secrecy of the home, an apology to the public isn’t where his change needs to be made,” Davis said. “The public wasn’t the one he hurt. It was his partner.”
On the other hand, because Castronovo is a celebrity, every sordid detail of his case was published and broadcast nationally. Why shouldn’t he get the same attention while he learns how to stay sober and stop his abusive behaviors? Of course, if he relapses or violates probation, we should hold him accountable for that, too.
"Because he is who he is, perhaps it's a great opportunity to educate other people," Davis said.
Castronovo is 127 days sober today. He completed a 75-day inpatient treatment program at the Hazelden Springbrook campus in Newberg, part of the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation. It was court-ordered.
Read the rest of the interview and see Castronovo's full apology on StatesmanJournal.com.