After a four year investigation, Marilyn Manson will face no criminal charges in regards to allegations of sexual assault and domestic violence made against him.
Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman stated today, January 24, that the sexual assault charges against the singer could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, while allegations of domestic abuse allegations fall outside the statute of limitation in California.
Allegations of abuse against Warner were made by more than a dozen women.
A statement from the District Attorney's office reads: “We recognize and applaud the courage and resilience of the women who came forward to make reports and share their experiences, and we thank them for their cooperation and patience with the investigation. While we are unable to bring charges in this matter, we recognize that the strong advocacy of the women involved has helped bring greater awareness to the challenges faced by survivors of domestic abuse and sexual assault.”
Manson's lawyer Howard King expressed satisfaction with the decision in a statement of his own.
It reads: "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 start - Brian Warner is innocent."
Esme Bianco, the former Game Of Thrones actress who once dated Manson, and sued the singer for sexual assault before reaching an out-of-court settlement with his legal team in 2023, said the decision by LA prosecutors was "deeply disappointing" but "not surprised".
Posting on Instagram, the actress wrote: "Within our toxic culture of victim blaming; a lack of understanding of coercive control, the complex nature of sexual assault within intimate partnerships, and statutes of limitations that do not support the realities of healing; prosecutions face an oftentimes insurmountable hurdle. Once again, our justice system has failed survivors. Not the individual prosecutors and detectives who worked for years on this case, but the system that made them do so with one hand tied behind their collective backs.
"Seven years ago when I was faced for the first time with that failure, it set me out on a journey of advocacy and activism, but with that came a very clear directive," she added. "My healing and peace could not be reliant upon the outcome of a desperately broken system."
Bianco also addressed Manson directly.
"By you dragging me through hell," she wrote, "I discovered the unstoppable force of my own power. I learnt how strong, and brave and bold I really am. I emerged as a Phoenix from the ashes that you left of my life. You also know the truth, and may you endeavor to find peace with that."
In 2023, another of Manson's former girlfriends, known in trial documents only as 'Jane Doe', reached a pre-trial legal settlement with Manson's lawyers in regards to an allegation that the singer raped her in 2011.
In a statement made to Rolling Stone at the time, she declared “I was fully prepared for trial and never in a million years thought I would ever settle, but over the past two-and-a-half years I have silently endured threats, bullying, harassment and various forms of intimidation that have intensified over the past few weeks.”
