Leviathan's Jef Whitehead Charged With Sexual Assault

To most, Jef Whitehead is not a widely familiar name. In the black metal and tattooing community, however, Whitehead is well respected for his art and his solo work as Wrest in Leviathan, as well as his role in the black metal supergroup Twilight (which boasts involvement from members of Isis and Nachtmystium). According to the Chicago Tribune, Whitehead is being held on a bail of $350,000 for allegedly sexually assaulting his girlfriend in the early hours of Saturday morning.

For the past few months Whitehead, who resides in Oakland, Calif., has been doing guest spots at tattoo shops all over the US and Europe. Most recently, he and his girlfriend were in Chicago as Whitehead was the artist in residence at Taylor Street Tattoo.

According to prosecutors, Whitehead used an undisclosed tattoo tool to sexually assault his girlfriend after he had slammed her head against the floor and choked her. His girlfriend gained consciousness in the street outside the tattoo parlor.

Freddy Corbin, a friend of Whitehead for over 20 years and his work colleague at Oakland's Temple Tattoo said, "I've never known him to be violent to anyone -- male or female."

Whitehead's girlfriend's current condition is unknown, but she was stated to be in "fair to serious condition" when first admitted to the University of Illinois Medical Center.

Listen to Leviathan's 'Force the Hand of Evilution'