LOS ANGELES (CN) — Detectives with the LA County Sheriff’s Department submitted the results of their 19-month investigation into sexual assault allegations against Brian Warner, aka Marilyn Manson, to the district attorney's office to decide whether the rock star should face criminal charges.
The case was submitted to the DA's office Monday for review and complaint filing consideration, according to an announcement Tuesday by the sheriff's department.
The DA's office said in a statement posted on Twitter that more material was still outstanding and that it didn't have a timeline for when it would receive the remaining information from the sheriff's department.
"Once we receive everything, experienced prosecutors will carefully and deliberately review everything that has been submitted prior to making a filing decision," according to the DA's statement. "This review will take some time but rest assured our office takes these allegations very seriously."
Lawyers for Warner declined to comment through a representative.
LA Sheriff's deputies served a search warrant on Warner’s West Hollywood home this past November in connection with the domestic violence and sexual assault investigation. The rocker was not home at the time of the raid but detectives seized media storage devices and other items during the search. The investigation pertained to incidents that occurred between 2009 and 2011, Sheriff Alex Villanueva said at the time.
Over a dozen women have accused Warner of misconduct and abusive behavior. Actress Evan Rachel Wood testified about her experience with domestic violence in front of Congress in 2018, naming Manson as her abuser in an Instagram post in February 2021. Shortly after Wood’s claims against Manson became public, his record label, agent and managers cut ties with him.
In an HBO documentary titled "Phoenix Rising," Wood claims that on the set of his music video "Heart-Shaped Glasses" she was "coerced into a commercial sex act under false pretenses,” and that she was "essentially raped on camera" by Warner.
Warner has denied the allegations and has sued Wood, his former fiancée, for defamation. The complaint, filed in LA Superior Court, also names as a defendant Ashley Gore — aka Illma Gore, an artist, whom the suit describes as Wood's "on-again, off-again romantic partner."
Warner also faces several sexual assault lawsuits, including one filed by "Game of Thrones" actress Esmé Bianco claiming, among other things, that he raped her; one by ex-girlfirend Ashley Morgan Smithline claiming he sexually assaulted her, cut her and whipped her; and one by an anonymous ex-girlfriend who says Warner raped her and subjected her to “degrading acts of sexual exploitation, manipulation, and psychological abuse.”
A judge ruled that the latter's claims fell outside the statute of limitations but allowed her to amend her complaint. A sexual-assault lawsuit by Warner's former assistant was dismissed because the allegations dating back to 2011 and 2012 occured too long ago.
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