Former MANOWAR Guitarist DAVID SHANKLE Hopes Child Pornography Charges Against KARL LOGAN Are Not True

Former MANOWAR guitarist David Shankle says that he hopes his replacement, Karl Logan, will come out "standing strong" after being arrested last summer on charges of possessing child pornography.

Karl, who joined MANOWAR in 1994 as the replacement for Shankle, was arrested on August 9, 2018 in Charlotte, North Carolina and charged with six counts of third-degree exploitation of a minor. According to arrest warrants, the offenses took place between June 18, 2018 and August 2, 2018.

The warrants say the 53-year-old musician was in possession of several videos which depicted girls between the ages of four and 12 years old engaged in a variety of sexual acts with unidentified men. Each video is described in graphic detail, including one scene where a girl age 10-12 "chokes and becomes visibly upset."

In a new interview with France's Duke TV, Shankle expressed his shock over Logan's charges and voiced his desire to see his colleague move past the allegations.

"Unfortunately, that's a sad thing, when I found out about that, that Karl was arrested with some B.S. about child pornography," Shankle said (see video below)

"I hope, for Karl's sake and his family, that he will come out of this standing strong, and if there is any truth to any of it that he'll get the help that he needs because he's a great guitar player," David continued. "He was always a nice guy to me, and this is still a shock.

"There's people that come to me and [former MANOWAR guitarist] Ross [The Boss] every day that say, 'You should be back in the band,' or, 'Should it be Ross?' Well, that's neither here or there. That band is Joey [DeMaio, bass] and Eric [Adams, vocals] and whoever they got, good luck. I hope it works out for you. But Ross and I, we've made our legacy and our time in that band.

"I do wish the best for Karl. I do hope the dust can settle and he can hold his head up high, 'cause that's an awful accusation," Shankle added. "And from my heart to him, I hope it's not true and I hope a lot of it's just misunderstood to where he can hold no shame. So that's all I've got to say about that."

MANOWAR recently recruited guitarist E.V. Martel for its "Final Battle" world tour, which resumed on February 25 in Tel Aviv, Israel. The trek will span over 28 cities; from Russia to Germany, Scandinavia and Birmingham, England to the far west of France.