David Ellefson denies accusations of online 'grooming'

Megadeth bassist David Ellefson has denied accusations that he groomed an underage girl after a series of intimate conversations and videos were leaked online over the weekend.

As a number of graphic exchanges began to appear on Twitter, Ellefson took to Instagram to refute any allegations – his statement is as follows:

“As you may or not know, some private and personal conversations and interactions have surfaced online, released with ill intention by a third party who was not authorized to have them or share them. While certainly embarrassing, I want to address it as openly and honestly as possible.

“As much as it's not something I'm proud of, these were private, adult interactions that were taken out of context and manipulated to inflict maximum damage to my reputation my career and family.

“The other party involved has made a statement which you can see below. I thank her for doing so and hope that this clarifies that the situation was not at all as presented.”

His statement was accompanied by a post from the woman involved, who denies she was underage when the video calls occurred, and called suggestions that she was 'groomed' by Ellefson "misinformation".

“Yes, those video calls did happen, but I was the one to initiate them and never was I underage, I was always a consenting adult. Nothing inappropriate ever happened before that,“ the post reads.

“It was all consensual, I’m not a victim and I have not been groomed in the slightest as I was the one to initiate it. I was just naive enough to record him and share it with a friend without his permission. In the end, it was all consensual and all online.”

Megadeth are nearing completion of their 16th studio effort, rumored to be titled The Sick, the Dying... and the Dead!