“Last month, a jury in Australia acquitted British rapper and YouTuber Yung Filly of three rape charges, but convicted him of two assault charges and failed to reach a verdict on three other rape charges.”
But they could not agree on certain charges, and now Yung Filly is scheduled to have his retrial on the three unresolved rape charges.
Yung Filly to Face Retrial on Rape Charges
Barrientos, the YouTuber whose legal name is Andres Felipe Valencia Barrientos, is accused of repeated sexual assaults against a fan following an appearance at a nightclub in Perth in 2024.
Yung Filly denied all 10 charges he faced, and earlier this month, the jury returned verdicts that were a mix of innocent and guilty – for three counts of rape, they said, it was innocent, but for two counts of sexual abuse, it was guilty.
They also cleared him of a charge of a single sexual offence and one of choking, but they found two counts of sexual abuse, and a sentence for these will be given after retrial.
What Happened During Yung Filly’s First Trial
At the time he was accused of raping the young woman of 20, Barrientos was on tour in Australia after a concert in Hillarys, the coastal district of Perth, when, according to the claim, she was raped in the hotel.
It was alleged during the Perth trial, and the accused admitted that the sexual encounter with the fan, who came to his hotel, was consensual; only later did the young woman turn aggressive, and the accused ignored her cries to stop.
The artist’s court in Perth was scheduled to hear this on 27 August, when the case for changing his release was to come up. A fresh court date had not been given yet.
Also, the artiste will be subjected to sentencing for the two guilty acts only if, after the re-trial, it is determined that he is indeed guilty.
Prosecutors and Defense Present Their Cases
According to the prosecutors, the complainant is keen to give a statement again. Barrientos, at one stage of the trial, said that he fancied her when he first saw the girl at the concert
He had been there in the VIP section, whereas she was in the general area and had crossed over the fence. He said later at the hotel there was no animosity between him and her.
Before the closing of the court proceedings, Danielle Clarke, the prosecuting attorney, said that Barrientos is a “spoilt” individual with moderate fame and who had done “the most intrusive violation” of a fan to him.
The lawyers for the defense tried to undermine the complainant by presenting arguments that the story of the complainant was full of “errors, exaggerations and lies”.
Barrientos, who was born in Colombia but grew up in the United Kingdom, is best known for his work with YouTube network BetaSquad.
Apart from doing a celebrity version of Bake Off on Channel4, he has also anchored various BBC Three shows.
