Marilyn Manson Won't Face Sexual Assault Charges

Prosecutors said Friday that they will not file charges against Marilyn Manson after a years-long investigation of allegations of sexual assault and domestic violence. Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said the allegations are too old under the law and the evidence is not sufficient to charge the 56-year-old shock rocker, whose legal name is Brian Warner, the AP reports. "We have determined that allegations of domestic violence fall outside of the statute of limitations, and we cannot prove charges of sexual assault beyond a reasonable doubt," Hochman said.

Nearly four years after the investigation began, then-District Attorney George Gascón said on Oct. 9 that his office was pursuing new leads that added to the "already extensive" file that authorities had amassed. Los Angeles County sheriff's detectives said early in 2021 that they were investigating Manson over accusations from 2009 to 2011 in West Hollywood, where Manson lived at the time. The probe included a search warrant that was served on his West Hollywood home. The case was initially turned over to prosecutors in September 2021, but the county District Attorney's Office requested more evidence-gathering and the investigation resumed.

"We are very pleased that, after a thorough and incredibly lengthy review of all of the actual evidence, the District Attorney has concluded what we knew and expressed from the star—Brian Warner is innocent," his attorney, Howard King, said in a statement. The identities of the women whom police and prosecutors spoke to were not revealed, but Game of Thrones actor Esmé Bianco—who sued Manson in a case that has been settled—said she was part of the criminal investigation. Bianco said she gave investigators "hundreds of pieces of evidence, including photos of my body covered in bites, bruises and knife wounds, emails and text messages, threats to my immigration status." In a statement released by her lawyer on Friday, Bianco said, "Once again, our justice system has failed survivors."

(More Marilyn Manson stories.)