OAKLAND — The drummer for an East Bay metal band known as Locked Up is behind bars, facing charges that he filmed himself molesting two young girls and then kept the files on a Google account until federal agents discovered them, according to court records.
Zane Covington, 53, of Brentwood, was charged with a single count of sexual exploitation of minor, a federal offense that carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison. The criminal complaint says a federal task force officer with Homeland Security Investigations verified multiple videos showing Covington inappropriately touching two “pre-pubescent girl(s)” and found other child sexual abuse videos online that he appeared to have searched for using “terms associated with child pornography files.”
Both girls were younger than 8 years old in images and videos allegedly taken by Covington, the criminal complaint says.
Covington is being held without bail at the Martinez Detention Facility. At his first court appearance on Oct. 2, he waived a detention hearing, and a judge set his preliminary hearing for November, records show.
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Covington is a registered sex offender, listed on the Megan’s Law site, for convictions of committing a lewd and lascivious act with a minor and possessing child pornography, the website says. The criminal complaint says that in 2014, Covington was convicted of 14 counts related to sexual abuse of a teen girl.
The case was initiated in September, based on a tip to law enforcement from Google, after some of Covington’s online activity was deemed suspicious, the criminal complaint says. A Contra Costa District Attorney investigator wrote in the complaint that at least one of the videos showing Covington molesting a minor was filmed in 2021.
Various social media postings identify Covington as a longtime metal performer who played bass and drums, and was most recently the drummer for a band called Locked Up. His Facebook page advertises shows for the band as recently as last May, and in 2023 he posted a selfie of the band’s logo — an emoji menacingly grinning from behind bars — tattooed on his arm.
In addition to the alleged molestation, authorities said in court filings that they found “dozens” of images of one of the girl, while clothed, but where the camera is “focused on her genitals and buttocks.”
