British singer probed over claims he raped 14-year-old girl ‘petrified’ after name spreads online
Video of his alleged victim naming him while describing the rape in graphic detail have already been viewed thousands of times
A BRITISH pop legend being probed over claims that he raped a 14-year-old girl was living in fear last night after his name was circulated around the world online.
Video of his alleged victim naming him while describing the rape in graphic detail have already been viewed thousands of times.
But the singer - who cannot be named for legal reasons at present - came under further pressure this week as he was pictured alongside her on a US news website.
The superstar has not been arrested, questioned or charged with any offence but was said to be “petrified” that the claims dating back to the 70’s will destroy his reputation.
Earlier this month the woman - now in her 50’s - told exclusively in The Sun on Sunday how the crooner pinned her down on a hotel bed after plying her with champagne.
Cops have launched a probe into her claims and she met detectives at the beginning of April.
She recalled she was so shocked and confused she thought she had hurt him as he grimaced on top of her during the attack, which left her covered in bruises.
MOST READ IN NEWS
The pretty teenager was given free tickets to the solo star’s show and she and a friend were picked out of the audience by the star’s bodyguard and invited to his hotel the next day.
The girls, aged 13 and 14, went along hoping to get an autograph.
But an aide separated her from her pals and took her to a suite, where the star was relaxing in a short white robe with a comedian, a female pal and a backing singer.
He led the girl to a balcony and put his arm around her waist while they posed for photographs, taken with her camera, which have been produced in evidence.
One of the pictures showing the smiling star in his robe with his arm around the victim appeared on an American news website earlier this week.
Recounting her ordeal, the alleged victim said: “He offered me Dom Perignon Champagne. I didn’t know what it was at the time. It looked like soda.
“You just feel you have to be with the crowd so I took a sip and thought it was the most vile tasting thing I’d ever had.
“All I wanted to do was get it down in one gulp then get it out of the way. That is what I did, not realising I was now drinking alcohol for the first time.
“Then he gave me another glass and was telling me how lovely I was ... and you have beautiful eyes ... I really like you ... and he carried on with this flirtatiousness. Before I knew it, it was like an immobility had set in there and then. He had me down on the bed in one fell swoop.
“His gown was off. I was wearing a jumpsuit. He zipped it down and what had started as affectionate and safe, almost, was suddenly becoming painful and forceful, not comfortable.
I was very numb and found that I could not move. All I heard repetitively as he was pinning me down was, 'relax, relax', ‘It won’t hurt if you relax’
The alleged victim
“I was confused and couldn’t understand where the pain was coming from.
“It was just beyond me. I was very numb and found that I could not move. All I heard repetitively as he was pinning me down was, 'relax, relax', ‘It won’t hurt if you relax’.
“Those words have just stuck with me over the years.
“I never understood at the time what he was trying to say. I was very naive. I thought I had hurt him and was so frightened.
“My father was very strict with me — and I just knew I had to get the hell out of this place.
“I came to my senses, sat up, zipped myself up and got the hell out of there. I ran as fast as I could.”
She fled to the exit but told how she inexplicably went back to the suite — because she had forgotten to get his autograph.
Only when she showered back at her family’s room did she realised her body was covered in bruises.
She also claims she was left traumatised for years because she was too ashamed to confide in friends and family.
The woman wept as she alleged: “I had bruises all over my body, in my groin and on my neck.
“I had hand imprints on my arm and I was trying to understand what happened. I couldn’t. (My mother) said if your father sees that he’ll kill you so I just dried my hair and fell asleep.”
The woman said the incident left her obsessed with the singer and wrecked any chance of normal relationships with men.
In 2013 she emailed her allegations to Scotland Yard but the alleged offence, which happened overseas, was out of their jurisdiction.
Chiefs agreed to register the case for intelligence purposes and passed her claims to their counterparts abroad.
An official probe was opened by the police force abroad in August 2014, only to be dropped six months later.
But it was disclosed last month that a new prosecutor and investigating officer have been assigned to the case.
A lawyer in the city where the rape is said to have happened said: “The alleged victim is a credible witness with excellent recall of the facts.
“The key to a successful prosecution is finding witnesses who place the complainant in the star’s suite and who can speak for her childlike demeanour.”