Lawyers representing a woman accusing Marilyn Manson of rape say that the singer is trying to “silence” their client, after a judge upheld a legal objection made by the singer’s defence team and rejected her lawsuit.
The anonymous claimant, identified as ‘Jane Doe’ in court papers, says that Manson raped her while she was dating the singer, the pair having started a relationship in 2011. But on September 14 Judge Gregory Keosian dismissed the complaint due to the statute of limitations after Manson’s legal team raised an objection. ‘Jane Doe’ has been given 20 days to file a new complaint. The judge declared that the complainant’s claims of having repressed memories from the alleged rape and death threat were not sufficient to overcome the statute of limitations.
Reacting to the ruling, Doe’s legal team issued a statement to Rolling Stone, saying: “Marilyn Manson wants to silence our client about her rape. He tried to use technical legal arguments to get her case thrown out altogether. The judge thoughtfully analyzed the case law, and rightfully held that her case can go forward, so long as she amends her complaint to add some additional details. We intend to amend with those additional details very shortly, and look forward to the opportunity to make Manson answer for his actions.”
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Manson, real name Brian Warner, faces three more lawsuits.
Game Of Thrones actress Esme Bianco filed charges against the singer in April, for rape, sexual battery and human trafficking. Her lawsuit states: “Mr. Warner used drugs, force, and threats of force to coerce sexual acts from Ms. Bianco on multiple occasions. Mr. Warner raped Ms. Bianco in or around May 2011.”
In May, Manson’s former assistant, Ashley Walters, filed her own lawsuit, accusing the singer of sexual assault, battery and harassment. Walters, who worked for Manson in 2010 and 2011, claims that he physically and psychologically abused her, subjecting her to “personal and professional sexual exploitation, manipulation and psychological abuse.”
Model/actor Ashley Morgan Smithline, filed her complaint in June, alleging sexual assault, sexual battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, human trafficking, and unlawful imprisonment, among other abusive behaviour.
In July 2019, Esme Bianco testified in front of the California Assembly Public Safety Committee in support of the Phoenix Act, a bill she co-created with Manson’s former partner Evan Rachel Wood to increase the statute of limitations on domestic violence crimes. In February, Wood named Manson as her abuser in an Instagram post. Passed into state law in California in October 2019, the Phoenix Act extends the statute of limitations on domestic violence felonies from three to five years.
