The Crown Prosecution Service in England has filed new charges against Russell Brand, one count of rape and another of sexual assault. London’s Metropolitan Police announced the news Tuesday, Dec. 23, following an investigation by detectives.
The additional charges will be added to the five previously filed against Brand in April. Those charges involved four women and included two counts of rape, one of indecent exposure, and two of sexual assault. Authorities claim the alleged incidents occurred between 1999 and 2005. The new charges relate to allegations from two new women who have come forward to the authorities.
Brand is scheduled to appear at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Jan. 20 to face the new charges. He’s already pleaded not guilty to the five previously-filed charges. A trial will take place at London’s Southwark Crown Court, beginning on June 16.
“The Met’s investigation remains ongoing, and detectives urge anyone affected by this case, or anyone with information, to come forward and speak with police,” the Metropolitan Police’s Detective Chief Inspector Tariq Farooqi, who is leading the investigation, said in a statement.
A representative for Brand did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone’s request for comment.
In May, when Brand entered his not guilty pleas for the first set of charges, a judge granted him conditional bail. The actor, who is British but resides mostly in Florida, must inform the police on his whereabouts. He’s also required to attend court hearings.
The Metropolitan Police began its investigation into Brand in 2023 after several women accused of him misconduct in The Times and Channel 4’s investigative show, Dispatches. Brand has repeatedly denied the allegations against him. In April, he posted a video saying, “I was a fool before I lived in the light of the Lord. I was a drug addict, a sex addict, and an imbecile. But what I never was, was a rapist.”
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“The women who have made reports, including those connected to the two new charges, continue to receive support from specially trained officers,” Farooqi said in Tuesday’s announcement.
From Rolling Stone US
