Dan Sultan cancels tour amid historical indecent assault charge

Acclaimed singer-songwriter Dan Sultan has cancelled all upcoming shows amid revelations he is facing an indecent assault charge.

The Daily Telegraph reports that the charge relates to an alleged incident from 2008.

A statement from Perth Festival organisers, where the musician was scheduled to play in the coming days, explains that Sultan has “cancelled all current performance commitments”.

Organisers explained that Sultan’s reps had been in touch: “His management said he would allow the legal process to take its course before making any further comment.”

Sultan was also set to perform at a fundraiser for creative non-for-profit the Seed Fund, at Melbourne’s Athenaeum Theatre, alongside John Butler and Kasey Chambers.

TMN has contacted Sultan’s management for further comment.

The Tele reports that the now NSW-based Sultan will appear in a Melbourne court next month.

In a statement to TMN, Victorian Police have confirmed that detectives from the Fawkner Sexual Offence And Child Abuse Investigation teams have charged a 36-year-old man following a sexual assault that occurred in Coburg in September 2008.

“A man from Connells Point, News South Wales has been charged with one count of indecent assault. He was summonsed to appear at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on 16 March 2020,” said a spokesperson from Victorian Police.

He has previously spoken publicly about struggles with alcohol, and in 2018 fell on a Cairns stage while performing on a national tour. He later apologised for his behaviour.

The news comes a few short months after Sultan won the ARIA Award for Best Children’s Album.

Following the ARIA win, Sultan told a room of reporters, including this one, that his achievement wouldn’t have been possible without getting his alcoholism under control.

Visibly emotional, he urged anyone suffering from addiction to seek help.