BLABBERMOUTH.NET - OPETH Bus Driver Slapped With More Charges In Teen Sex Case

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Last Updated: February 9, 2010 10:12 PM

OPETH Bus Driver Slapped With More Charges In Teen Sex Case - Nov. 16, 2005

St. Petersburg Times has issued the following report:

Police have filed two more charges against Leon R. Whitman (photo, charge report), the Michigan tour bus driver arrested Sunday amid allegations he flew a Michigan teen to Tampa over the weekend and had sex with her inside his room at the Wyndham Westshore Hotel.

After reviewing pictures and footage on Whitman's digital camera and camcorder, investigators charged him Tuesday with one felony count of using a child for a sexual performance. They also filed an additional count of computer pornography, jail records show.

Whitman, 47, was already in the county jail on three counts of computer pornography and one count each of unlawful sexual activity with a minor and interfering with custody.

Whitman met the teen about a year ago in Michigan, according to detective Robert Parrish. He told the teen if she flew to Tampa, he would take pictures of her and help her land a job in Los Angeles, Parrish said.

Whitman promised the girl $600 and offered to take her to Los Angeles on the band's bus, Parrish said. He said the band knew nothing about it.

Saturday, Whitman picked the girl up at Tampa International Airport and brought her to his room at the Wyndham. There, he and the teen had sex, Parrish said. An officer on patrol near the hotel later found the girl, shaken, wandering the streets alone.

Tampa police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said investigators filed the latest charges after they found pictures on Whitman's camera of the 16-year-old girl posing in lewd positions. McElroy said they also found video footage of the girl's sexual encounter with Whitman, who drove the tour bus for the heavy metal rock band OPETH.

Parrish said Whitman's camera contained more than 200 lewd pictures of several females, some of them authorities believe are underage. Tampa police are working with the FBI to determine who the girls are and whether Whitman victimized them, Parrish said.

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	COMMENT \| Arg posted by : stunna 11/16/2005 3:59:28 AM

	heh.. I Was expecting 'new charges' as; He is now has Drug charges on him. On something similar.

	COMMENT \| posted by : stunna 11/16/2005 4:00:37 AM

	^^ Gah, my typing is bad today. -is

	COMMENT \| Could someone please explain... posted by : iammetalNL 11/16/2005 5:24:47 AM

	why 'computer pornography' is illegal?

	COMMENT \| posted by : servantofthebones 11/16/2005 7:15:33 AM

	This article should stop being promoted as Opeth-related. Really Bori, this isnt funny. Neither is the Sharon shit, but even that leaves a better taste than this shit.

	COMMENT \| posted by : The Reverand 11/16/2005 7:31:27 AM

	Ya, Opeth does suck. I always figured that open tunings lead to homosexuality. Regardless, it just proves kids, use standard guitar tunings or you will attract sexual devients.

	COMMENT \| to those interested i'm starting a band called.... posted by : hercrotchisbleeding 11/16/2005 8:45:11 AM

	''Teen Sex Case'' we need a drummer and a guitarist.

	COMMENT \| posted by : Deth 11/16/2005 9:11:47 AM

	\m/'.'\m/, don't give Reverand the pleasure of an argument. He makes his statements to get a rise out of people and, apparently, it works well. I got duped by him the other day when he felt the need to argue with me over my grammatical abilities. Don't give him the pleasure, just ignore him. I digress, this story does hold some relevance, in a way, because of the delay and stress it will create on the remainder of the Opeth tour. Let us hope the band has written this pervert off. I only wonder if the driver actually knew the girl's age or if she lied. I'm not placing blame on her but she did willingly fly to Tampa.

	COMMENT \| Pig posted by : Loser Number 101 11/16/2005 10:20:19 AM

	And the band didn't know anything about this? Right. Whoever thinks they were clueless has obviously never toured.

	COMMENT \| Deth posted by : The Reverand 11/16/2005 10:22:39 AM

	Thanks for the shoutout! But seriously, open tunings are for chumps. Opeth have done nothing new musically. How many of you ranted and raved about the new Opeth after hearing it for the first time and seeing the blabbermouth "10" review, but are now bored of it. Yea, you know what I mean... Don't deign it.

	COMMENT \| In related news... posted by : the Dude (~\m/~) 11/16/2005 11:10:25 AM

	...it's been discovered that Opeth's bus driver posts at Blabbermouth under the screen name "Itwalksamongus".

	COMMENT \| For what it's worth... posted by : VivaLaSlash 11/16/2005 11:54:26 AM

	...Ghost Reveries was my introduction to Opeth, and I still rock out to it on a regular basis. And for the record, lots of great guitarists like Keith Richards, Kim Thayil, Jeff Martin and others have done some really cool shit with open tunings. But yeah, I wish the band wouldn't get dragged into these posts. Hell, I'm still waiting to hear about that dude from Mortician who jacked a taxi... now THAT'S some crazy shit... Mmm... Beer... c(_)

	COMMENT \| This has nothing to do with the Band, does it? posted by : Nivek 11/16/2005 12:18:12 PM

	Damn Blabbermouth, you guys are really stretching this shit out trying to find some connection to the music. He was just a bus driver, and as someone mentioned above, had no real connection to the band. It's not like he was a member, roadie, stage manager, ect. he was a fucking driver. Contrary to what the guy did, mentioning Opeth is just coming off as a way to give negative attention to the band. Damn, this site is just fucking trashy ass tabloid reporting anymore, where you have to edit the headline and story to draw attention to something that has almnost no connection to these bands. Oh, wait, this just in Blabbermouth, the former sound board installer for Machine Head was found having sex with a jar of Mustard behind a Krogers in north East Ohio! Rob Flynn and Machine Heads managment and Label had no comment at this time. That how some of these story's come across to the casual, informed fucking reader.

	COMMENT \| "...slapped with more charges in teen sex case" posted by : hurricane hugo 11/16/2005 12:44:25 PM

	Slapped with more cocks in prison. blessed be.

	COMMENT \| opeth posted by : sanity assassin 11/16/2005 1:11:32 PM

	Thing is, shouldn't Opeth have become suspicous of a situation where this guy was going to be driving an underage girl around the country on their bus? Or was the "drive you to LA on the band bus" just a fill of malarkey?

	COMMENT \| And you know the funny thing, Reverand? posted by : SP420 11/16/2005 1:19:00 PM

	They can still outperform and outwrite any band that you could name that writes in a groundbreaking, genre-defying drop D, C, or any other breathtaking tuning.

	COMMENT \| SP420 posted by : The Reverand 11/16/2005 1:28:51 PM

	It has nothing to do with the technical ability of the musician to use the tuning you asshat. Get a grip. How many real musicians out there are going to stand up and defend their preference in tuning style? Any decent musician can utilize all available tunings, depending on the general ambience they are trying to convey. Opeth just hapen to convey bordem and mediocracy. But your right, you are pretty funny. Thanks for posting the joke.

	COMMENT \| SP420 posted by : The Reverand 11/16/2005 1:33:11 PM

	Just for giggle's, I'll name Nevermore. They use a bogus seven string tuning that only shitty MTV-Metal bands like korn and limp bizkit would use. You would have to smoke a shitload of bongs before you could come up with a reason that would convince me that Opeth can outwrite or outplay Nevermore. Drop D, come on, get a clue. sorry, by outplay did you mean playing the same halfass riff for 5 mins?

	COMMENT \| man posted by : volt5000 11/16/2005 1:46:22 PM

	this is fuckin sick dude seriously.Why must we have these kind of assholes on earth?

	COMMENT \| posted by : seastorm 11/16/2005 3:46:11 PM

	"I only wonder if the driver actually knew the girl's age or if she lied. I'm not placing blame on her but she did willingly fly to Tampa." While it might make a difference in how we personally react, legally it doesn't matter. Unlawful sexual activity with a minor is a strict liability crime in FL. It doesn't matter whether or not he knew. If he did the act, he'll go to jail.

	COMMENT \| LUCKY POLICE! posted by : Dead of Winter 11/16/2005 6:47:41 PM

	I am sure whoever found the footage of him and the girl is going to enjoy jacking off to that for a while to come. lol

	COMMENT \| hmm.. posted by : Neon Black 11/17/2005 4:36:57 AM

	I am sure Opeth will say something about this. In fact this case has enough material for them To write atleast another 30 minute monster metal track.

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