Marilyn Manson Sexual Assault Case Turned Over To Prosecutors

LOS ANGELES, CA — Nearly two years after sexual assault allegations first surfaced against singer Marilyn Manson, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department turned its investigation over to the district attorney's office, the department announced Tuesday.

However, the district attorney said investigators didn't finish the job.

It remains to be seen if the Goth musician, whose real name is Brian Warner, will face charges. Warner has denied the allegations made by multiple women. Sheriff's officials had little to say about their case on Tuesday.

"Detectives with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Special Victims Bureau have completed a nineteen-month-old investigation regarding sexual assault allegations involving Brian Warner, AKA “Marilyn Manson,” the department announced. "The case was submitted to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office on Monday, September 19, 2022, for review and complaint filing consideration."

District Attorney George Gascón issued a swift response Tuesday, saying sheriff's investigators submitted only "partial case material." Gascón said he expects investigators to provide additional evidence in the case, but he offered no timeline as to when he expects it to move forward.

"Once we receive everything, experienced prosecutors will carefully and deliberately review everything that has been submitted prior to making a filing decision," he said.

The 53-year-old singer's attorney issued a statement in his defense last year.

"Mr. Warner vehemently denies any and all claims of sexual assault or abuse of anyone. These lurid claims against my client have three things in common -- they are all false, alleged to have taken place more than a decade ago and part of a coordinated attack by former partners and associates of Mr. Warner who have weaponized the otherwise mundane details of his personal life and their consensual relationships into fabricated horror stories."

Sheriff's detectives in November served a search warrant at Manson's West Hollywood apartment.

Warner was sued in April of 2021 by "Game of Thrones" actress Esmé Bianco for alleged sexual assault and sexual battery in what she described as a series of violent encounters.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court, alleged that Warner had used "fraudulent offers of movie and music video roles to convince Ms. Bianco to travel to Los Angeles, whereupon Mr. Warner then made threats of force and performed violent sexual acts on Ms. Bianco to which she did not consent."

According to the lawsuit, Bianco was invited to Los Angeles from the United Kingdom by Warner with the promise of work, and after moving into the Goth rocker's West Hollywood apartment in 2011, she was not allowed to eat, sleep or leave without his permission.

"Mr. Warner raped Ms. Bianco in or around May 2011," the suit alleges.

King issued a statement to City News Service last year denying Bianco's allegations.

"These claims are provably false," King said. "To be clear, this suit was only filed after my client refused to be shaken down by Ms. Bianco and her lawyer and give in to their outrageous financial demands based on conduct that simply never occurred. We will vigorously contest these allegations in court and are confident that we will prevail."

In February of last year, actress Evan Rachel Wood accused Warner of sexual and physical abuse during their relationship, which lasted from January 2007 until August 2010. His record label, Loma Vista Recordings, dropped him following Wood's accusation.

Warner denied Wood's allegations in a social media post. He fired back in court in March of this year, suing Wood and alleging she and another woman caused him emotional distress by encouraging other women to make false accusations of sexual abuse against him.

In a video posted online last week, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said his office was prepared to review the Manson case once it was submitted by the sheriff's department.

"Once we have received the case, it will be carefully evaluated by experienced prosecutors to determine if it is appropriate to file charges at this time," he said.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.