Tempo Storm to offer support to victims and ZeRo after dropping him for sexual misconduct

Tempo Storm has dropped Gonzalo "ZeRo" Barrios after he became the latest high profile member of the Smash community outed for sexual misconduct.

Gonzalo "ZeRo" Barrios has come clean over accusations that he behaved inappropriately with minors. (Picture: Tempo Storm)

Two victims came out to claim that the former Smash pro had behaved inappropriately with them when they were minors, with one claiming that ZeRo had attempted to solicit nude pictures from her when she was 14, ZeRo who is 25 now would have been 19 at the time of the alleged incident. 

ZeRo had initially denied the offences, but on July 4th he confirmed via a statement posted to Twitter that the allegations were true, expressing remorse for his actions and explaining he "did terrible things and that's the end of it".

"I just want this discussion to stop. I'm not a good person, and it doesn't matter how terrible my life was, I did terrible things and that's the end of it. I don't deserve for people to defend me," he said.

"After initially reviewing the statements of the brave victims who stepped forward to bring this to our attention, we immediately initiated a comprehensive internal investigation, during which ZeRo confessed to these allegations. We will be severing ties with him going forward."

Unlike other esports associations, Tempo took steps beyond distancing with the perpetrator and claimed they will offer counselling and professional support to both ZeRo and the victims.

"In an effort to help our fellow community members recover from the pain, we will be extending an offer to provide professional support for each of the victims involved. We will also be connecting ZeRo with professional counsel and other rehabilitation sources."

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The 25-year-old publicly admitted to all the allegations after having previously denied the instances had taken place as described, his denials angered prominent members of the FGC community with William "Leffen" Hjelte calling him out on social media for the former's attempts to cover his tracks.

In his last Twitlonger, ZeRo addresses perhaps the most disturbing incident he was accused of, in which he asked a 14-year-old to masturbate with ice and to send him pictures of the act, stating it did take place after previously denying its occurrence.

"Katie - The screenshot you guys were wondering about the ice cube thing? It's true. The claims that Katie makes are true in general. There are no graphic pictures of anything of the sort, but it's unforgivable regardless. I want to just be clear about it here."

ZeRo, who boasts over a million followers on YouTube has pledged to stop uploading content to his channel. He also has an exclusivity deal with Facebook Gaming for streaming, the company has yet to issue a statement regarding the situation.