DETROIT — A federal magistrate judge Monday refused to release on bond the former keyboardist for the Detroit rock band Mac Saturn, citing the “extreme danger” he poses to the community in a child pornography case that alleges the musician masturbated online with three minors.
A lawyer for keyboardist Evan Mercer, 30, of Farmington, vowed to appeal after Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge David Grand ordered the musician remain in jail while awaiting trial on charges that could send the rocker to federal prison for up to 30 years.
The detention hearing came three days after court officials unsealed a criminal complaint that overshadowed a release party for the band’s first physical album, “Hard to Sell,” and launch of a 35-city national tour that started in the band’s backyard.
The complaint coincided with Mercer’s arrest hours before Mac Saturn’s headlining show Friday at the Fillmore Detroit. An hour before showtime, band members announced on social media that Mercer was no longer in the band.
Mercer, dressed in an orange Sanilac County Jail uniform and restrained with handcuffs and ankle chains, hung his head and chest-length brown hair Monday as the magistrate judge described case allegations. That included allegations Mercer masturbated with a naked prepubescent girl approximately 7-9 years old, and separately, with two teen boys — ages 14 and 15, respectively — during online video chats on the website, now defunct.
“It is just shocking to see a grown man engage in sexual activity” as alleged by the government, Grand said.
Grand said the circumstances of the crime show how easy it is to victimize minors simply by logging onto the internet. Releasing the musician to live with his parents poses a danger, the magistrate judge said, including to Girl Scouts who might sell cookies door-to-door or minors collecting items for canned food drives.
Mercer proposed being released to live with his parents but the magistrate judge and prosecutor…
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