Former Black Label Society Guitarist Nick Catanese Pleads Guilty to Sexual Misconduct With a Minor
As the wave of sexual misconduct accusations sweeps through the entertainment industry, there's a new incident to report, this one within the world of metal. Nick Catanese, who spent 17 years as Zakk Wylde's guitar complement in Black Label Society, has pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual conduct with a minor.
Catanese, who was also an instructor at School of Rock Castle Shannon, had used Instagram to send an image of his penis to a 14-year-old student, as reported by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He also requested nude images from the girl and even described various sex acts and was relieved from his duties as one of the school's instructor's following a prior incident with a different female student.
The 46-year-old Black Label Society veteran appeared before Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Donna Jo McDaniel and pleaded guilty to unlawful contact, corruption of minors and endangering the welfare of children. Catanese was then sentenced to five years probation and must register as a Megan's Law offender for the next 25 years. Contact with minors and access to computers with Internet is also forbidden.
According to the report, Castle Shannon police were made aware of the incident by the school's owner, David Blackrick, on April 29 of last year.
Despite being a member of Black Label Society from 1998 through 2013, Catanese was only featured on three albums, Mafia (2005), Shot to Hell (2006) and Order of the Black (2010) as his role in the band was primarily as a live guitarist. He was succeeded by Dario Lorina in 2014.
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