Marilyn Manson accused of sexual assault of minor in new lawsuit

A new plaintiff has sued shock-rock singer Marilyn Manson, alleging sexual assault of a minor.

The suit, filed on Monday by a Jane Doe in Nassau County, N.Y., claims that the singer, born Brian Warner, assaulted her multiple times while she was a teenager in the 1990s. While other plaintiffs have sued Manson for alleged sex abuse incidents that took place well after his rise to fame, this suit alleges that Manson's abuse stretched back to the very early days of his career, and names his record labels Interscope and Nothing as co-defendants.

"Defendant Warner first targeted Plaintiff in 1995 when she was 16 years old, using his role, status, and power as an adult and performer in the music industry to gain access to, groom, manipulate and exploit Plaintiff, resulting in sexual assault in two separate incidents," the suit claims. "Defendants Interscope and Nothing Records were aware of Defendant Warner’s practice of sexually assaulting minors, and aided and abetted such behavior."

In a statement to The Times, Manson's attorney Howard King said, "Brian Warner does not know this individual and has no recollection of ever having met her 28 years ago. He certainly was never intimate with her. She has been shopping her fabricated tale to tabloids and on podcasts for more than two years. But even the most minimal amount of scrutiny reveals the obvious discrepancies in her ever-shifting stories as well as her extensive collusion with other false accusers."

Representatives for Interscope Records did not immediately return requests for comment.

The suit describes an alleged incident outside an all-ages show shortly after Jane Doe's 16th birthday. "Defendant Warner questioned the minors, including Plaintiff, specifically asking what each of their ages were, what grades in school they were in, and where their parents were at the time. Defendant Warner then asked both children for their home addresses and phone numbers, jotting them down, suggesting that he would send them both promotional material from his fan club.

"While on the tour bus," the suit continues, "Defendant Warner performed various acts of criminal sexual conduct upon Plaintiff, who was a virgin at the time, including but not limited to forced copulation and vaginal penetration ... Plaintiff was in pain, scared, upset, humiliated and confused. After he was done, Defendant Warner laughed at her ... Then Defendant Warner demanded Plaintiff to 'get the f— off of my bus' and threatened Plaintiff that, if she told anyone, he would kill her and her family."

Jane Doe alleges several other instances of abuse at concerts in New Orleans and New York, after being drawn into Manson's inner circle that other plaintiffs have described as a web of drug use, coercive control and violence. The suit also claims that Manson used his fan club to solicit explicit images of underage fans, and that label executives should have been aware of that at the time.

"Prior to the sexual assaults described above, Defendants Interscope and Nothing Records knew or should have known that Defendant Warner was habitually and routinely engaged in sexual misconduct with young adults and underage children throughout the country," it claims.

Last year, New York passed a law, the Adult Survivors Act, that temporarily lifted the statute of limitations on civil suits claiming sexual abuse and harassment. Jane Doe's attorney, Jeff Anderson, is also representing a woman suing Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler for alleged sexual assault of a minor.

Several suits against Manson claiming abuse have recently been settled or dismissed. Last week, actor Esmé Bianco settled her 2021 suit against Manson, which claimed sexual abuse and human trafficking. Earlier, a judge dismissed Ashley Morgan Smithline's 2021 suit claiming assault in 2010, after missing a filing deadline. Previously, a judge dismissed a suit from Manson's former assistant Ashley Walters last May, after passing a statute of limitations. Another suit from a different Jane Doe claiming sexual assault is ongoing.

The L.A. County Sheriff's Department has brought the findings of an investigation into Manson to the L.A. district attorney, though they have not yet announced any possible charges.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.