Ex-Carnivore Guitarist Marc Piovanetti Charged With Sexual Assault of a Minor

Guitarist Marc Piovanetti, who played with thrash metal band Carnivore back in the ’80s, has been arrested on some heinous alleged crimes.

The musician — who was also a member of Crumbsuckers — has been charged with four counts of second-degree sexual assault, second-degree luring, second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, and two counts of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child.

In a press release, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella announced that 58-year-old Piovanetti and his wife, 50-year-old Jennifer Piovanetti, were arrested in Fort Lee, New Jersey, on Sunday, Feb. 23.

“The New York City Police Department notified the Fort Lee Police Department about a missing child from New York City who was believed to be in the Fort Lee, NJ area. The Fort Lee Police Department located the child, who was between the ages of thirteen and sixteen, in the company of the couple,” according to the press release.

The police investigation revealed that Piovanetti was a stranger to the victim and “engaged in conversation with the child on TurnUp, a social media application, and made arrangements to meet,” per the DA’s office. Piovanetti allegedly “provided the child with marijuana and sexually assaulted the child in his residence.”

“During the course of the investigation, detectives determined that Jennifer Piovanetti was at home in the same residence at the time of the incident, and she was aware of the child’s presence, along with another child under the age of thirteen who was also there,” the press release added.

The DA’s office wants to make sure the public knows that “any parent or guardian who determines that their child received inappropriate online communications” from Piovanetti can contact the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Tips Line at (201) 226-5532.

Prosecutor Musella also notes that “the charges against both defendants are merely accusations, and that each is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Marc Piovanetti played for Carnivore — along with Type O Negative frontman Peter Steele — from 1985 until 1990, and for Crumbsuckers from 1988 until 1991.

Notably, this isn’t Piovanetti’s first run-in with the law over alleged child sex crimes. In 2017, he was sentenced to ten years probation and placed on the sex offender registry for the rape of a child under fifteen years old.