The case began in January 2019. A 25-year-old student living in France accused Chris Brown and two of her relatives of having sexually abused her during a stay in the French capital . Tuesday March 10, more than a year after the alleged events, the Paris prosecutor's office opened a judicial investigation according to information from the Parisian .
“I am delighted with this decision made by the Paris prosecutor's office. We will have access to the file and we will especially be able to make requests for deeds, ” reacted Me Jean-Marc Descoubes, counsel for the young woman, now a student in a theater school.
Read also: "Chris Brown raped me": the alleged victim maintains his accusations against the singer
After being the subject of a preliminary investigation since the complaint filed on January 18, 2019 by the student, the case will therefore be assigned to an investigating judge.
Chris Brown, convicted of assault and battery on his former partner Rihanna in 2009, is suspected of having raped the complainant with his bodyguard and a friend during an evening at the Mandarin Oriental, on the night of January 15 to 16, 2019 At the time, no charges were brought against the three men, who deny the charges.
Chris Brown absent from confrontations
The young woman delivered her account of the evening in an interview given to the Parisian in January 2019. While she went to the bathroom in the suite occupied by Chris Brown, the singer of 30 years would have followed her there. "He grabbed me violently by the arm, my right arm, on which I had bruises, as the police could see. He pushed me into a closet and raped me , ”she says. She then tries to escape but wants to recover her cell phone. “I asked the bodyguard to give it back to me. He told me he was in his room, ” she continues. They join the room in question. "And there it started again," with the bodyguard and a friend of Chris Brown.
The complainant, nicknamed Karima by the media, explains that shortly after receiving threats from relatives of the R&B star, she received a proposal for a financial "arrangement" . For his part, the singer filed a complaint for slanderous denunciation.
Read also: Suspected of rape, Chris Brown insults the complainant on leaving police custody
According to Le Parisien , confrontations were organized twice between the accused and the young woman, in May 2019 and last January. Chris Brown never showed up there. "I hope that these confrontations will be ordered in the context of judicial information," says Jean-Marc Descoubes to our colleagues.
Defense counsel said the musician never refused a confrontation, but was simply unable to get there due to a busy schedule. Me Raphaël Chiche believes that this new procedural step will allow the investigations "to continue in an appropriate framework" , he explained to AFP.