Rolling Stone — New details have emerged regarding the incidents that led former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson to file revenge-porn charges against the person who leaked compromising video of his online sexual interactions with a fan.

Ellefson, the longtime Megadeth bassist who joined the band during its formative years, admitted to police in a report obtained by Rolling Stone that he had been sexting with a Dutch teenager who had captured video of their encounters without his consent, according to a police report. She shared the clips with friends and they eventually surfaced online with accusations that the bassist had been grooming an underage fan. Scottsdale Police Department, who are investigating the incident, confirmed Ellefson’s partner’s age as 19. Ellefson is pursuing charges against the person who leaked the video online and not his sexual partner.

Ellefson took a polygraph test to affirm his claims and presented police with a photo of her driver’s license to prove she was of age. He also shared screen shots of Snapchat and WhatsApp messages he had had with her that related to the allegations with police.

Ultimately, Megadeth fired Ellefson in late May. “While we do not know every detail of what occurred, with an already strained relationship, what has already been revealed now is enough to make working together impossible moving forward,” frontman Dave Mustaine said in a statement.

The bassist told police that he first met the woman when he was signing autographs at the merchandise table of a 2019 gig in Holland. “They struck up a friendship and continued chatting through social media,” the report says. “The second time they met in person was in the Netherlands at a hotel lobby to have coffee and a soda. He believes this was February 2020. He stated there was no physical contact and they just had a conversation. He stated there has never been any sexual physical contact between the two.”

After his second rendezvous with the woman, he continued chatting with her over social media, and their interactions turned sexual in “July or August” when they each started to masturbate in front of each other using Facebook Messenger. “He stated they had about four to five masturbating encounters,” the report said. “The last online sexual encounter was around February 2021. [Ellefson’s partner] admitted to Mr. Ellefson that she had recorded two to three videos of him masturbating without his consent or knowledge.”

In the report, Ellefson claimed he told the band’s management the person who leaked the video had called him “a pedophile,” and they responded that he had previously harassed other band members. “He was advised by management to ‘not do anything and sit tight’ because it would probably ‘blow over,’” the report says. “Management advised him they would have their lawyer team investigate it.” But the allegations soon turned viral and within two hours, the Instagram user posted video of Ellefson masturbating alone. (A rep for the band did not immediately reply to a request for comment.)

“[Ellefson’s partner] admitted that she had shared the video with some friends but wasn’t sure how it got leaked out to others,” the report says. “She was remorseful and agreed to send out a social media statement on her Instagram account that she had been a willing consenting adult during their mutual virtual sexual encounter.” Ellefson then posted her statement and one of his own on May 10th, asserting that the allegations of grooming were false. “[Ellefson] stated [the fan] has not extorted him in any way, so he believes he is not the originator(s) of the social media posts making the allegations,” the report says. (Neither Ellefson’s lawyer nor the woman in question immediately responded to Rolling Stone’s requests for comment.)

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