Rocker Marilyn Manson will not be charged after lengthy investigation into sexual assault allegations

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Prosecutors said Friday they will not file charges against Marilyn Manson after a years-long investigation into allegations of sexual assault and domestic violence.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said the allegations were too old under the law and there was not enough evidence to charge the 56-year-old rocker whose legal name is Brian Warner.

“We have determined that the domestic violence allegations are not statute-barred and we cannot prove the sexual assault charges beyond a reasonable doubt,” Hochman said. “We recognize and applaud the courage and resilience of the women who came forward to report and share their experiences, and we thank them for their cooperation and patience in the investigation. »

Nearly four years after the investigation began, then-prosecutor George Gascón said on October 9 that his office was investigating new leads that added to the “already voluminous” case that authorities had compiled.

Los Angeles County sheriff’s detectives said in early 2021 that they were investigating Manson for incidents that occurred between 2009 and 2011 in West Hollywood, where Manson lived at the time. The investigation included a search warrant that was served at his West Hollywood home. The case was initially handed over to prosecutors in September 2021, but the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office requested more evidence collection and the investigation has resumed.

The identities of the women police and prosecutors spoke with have not been revealed, but “Game of Thrones” actress Esmé Bianco — who took Manson to court in a case that was settled — said that she was part of the criminal investigation. Before the decision not to pursue charges, she criticized the length of the process at a rally in support of Hochman, who was elected shortly afterward.

“Almost four years ago, I did what rape victims are supposed to do: I went to the police,” she said on October 10. “I described to them in distressing detail how rock musician Brian Warner – better known by his stage name Marilyn Manson – had raped and abused me during our relationship.

Bianco said she provided investigators with “hundreds of pieces of evidence, including photos of my body covered in bites, bruises and knife wounds, emails and text messages, threats about my status immigration”.

In his lawsuit, Bianco alleged sexual, physical and emotional abuse and said Manson violated human trafficking law by bringing him from England to California for nonexistent roles in music videos and films.

Manson’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment. He had previously called the allegations “patently false.” A representative for Bianco did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

In 2021, his former fiancée, “Westworld” actor Evan Rachel Wood, first named him as her attacker in an Instagram post.

Wood and Manson’s relationship became public in 2007 when he was 38 and she was 19, and they were briefly engaged in 2010 before splitting.

“He started grooming me when I was a teenager and abused me horribly for years,” Wood said.

Manson responded on Instagram that these were “horrible distortions of reality.” He sued Wood, claiming she and another woman fabricated accusations against him and convinced others to do the same. A judge threw out significant parts of the suit, and then in November, Manson agreed to drop it and pay Wood’s attorney fees.

The Associated Press generally does not name people who say they were sexually abused unless they come forward publicly as Bianco and Wood have done.

Other women sued Manson in the months following Wood’s revelation. Wood’s representative did not immediately return a message Friday.

Manson became a music star in the mid-1990s, known as much for sparking public controversy as for hit songs like “The Beautiful People” and hit albums like 1996’s “Antichrist Superstar” and “Mechanical Animals.” » from 1998.