Manson Faces Sex Charge

ByABC News
August 20, 2001, 2:19 PM

August 17 -- Perhaps the devil made him do it: Shock-rocker Marilyn Manson's recent stage antics at a Michigan concert have landed the much-protested star a charge of criminal sexual conduct.

Manson allegedly approached a 25-year-old security guard from behind while masturbating during a July 30 concert at DTE Energy Theater in Clarkston, a Detroit suburb. Prosecutor David Gorcyca tells The Associated Press that Manson spit on the guard, wrapped his legs around the man's head and neck, and gyrated against him. Ew!

"It was definitely offensive conduct," the prosecutor told the AP. "It's one thing to shock the audience by some kind of behavior, it's another to involve an unwilling participant who was there to protect him."

Gorcyca said his office issued a warrant Thursday for Manson's arrest, after a delay to interview witnesses. The 32-year-old musician's publicist has so far not responded to the AP's several requests for comment.

The fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct charge is a felony carrying a possible sentence of up to two years in prison. Manson, whose real name is Brian Warner, also faces one count of misdemeanor assault and battery.