More than 30 women have stepped forward with claims Superfly actor and rapper Kaalan “KR” Walker raped or sexually abused them in a string of alleged assaults dating back to at least 2013, Los Angeles prosecutors told a judge in a Los Angeles courtroom Monday.
The staggering number, which Walker’s camp disputes, was cited by Deputy District Attorney Yasmin Fardghassemi ahead of a trial set to start next month. The serial rape case stems from Walker’s initial arrest in 2018 on charges he lured aspiring models to photo shoots under the guise of helping their careers and attacked them.
Walker, 26, has pleaded not guilty to six counts of forcible rape, two counts of unlawful intercourse with a minor, and other felonies related to 11 alleged victims in Los Angeles County, according to court filings obtained by Rolling Stone.
Prosecutors argued Monday that in addition to the 11 alleged victims, they had a right to call five more accusers to the witness stand during trial to ask them about alleged assaults that were similar to the charged offenses but didn’t lead to criminal prosecution. Walker’s lawyer, Andrew Flier, argued that adding the women would lengthen the upcoming jury trial by a month and effectively allow prosecutors to “bolster” the “weaker” allegations underlying the case.
“As we look at the totality of this case, over 30 victims, the people are not being unreasonable in their selection of only a few victims as it relates to [prior bad acts] purposes,” Fardghassemi responded.
Judge Joseph Brandolino ultimately said he would allow four of the five to testify, including a woman who allegedly met Walker at a concert in downtown Los Angeles and traveled with him to a hotel under the guise of attending an afterparty with a concert performer. At the hotel, Walker allegedly raped the woman.
Prosecutors claim the alleged hotel attack is relevant because of its similarity to a charged count claiming Walker raped a woman in January 2014 after meeting her at a nightclub and leading her to a car parked in an alley. Both incidents involved women who met Walker for the first time at public venues within hours of their alleged assaults, and both involve DNA evidence that allegedly matched with Walker, prosecutors said Monday.
Walker attended the hearing Monday, but his lawyer spoke for him. “Mr. Walker was in consensual and voluntary contact with every one of these women. There’s no abduction rape. There’s no forced rape. Purportedly, he is giving them information like, ‘Hey, I could put you in a movie. I could put you in a rap video. I could create a star.’ And that’s what gets them to do things they might not normally want to do. And now that the stardom and glory didn’t come to fruition, they’re lying and saying he assaulted them,” Flier tells Rolling Stone. “We believe that every one of these young ladies is lying.”
Two of Walker’s accusers who’ve discussed their allegations on social media tell Rolling Stone they believe Walker is a dangerous repeat offender who will harm more women if he’s not convicted.
Model Sydney Stanford says she reached out to Walker on Instagram after hearing he was a photographer and agreed to shoot with him in Los Angeles in 2017, when she was 19 years old. She claims he raped her in a locked car the night they first met. (She’s not one of the alleged victims in the criminal case but says she reported him to police and has spoken with prosecutors.)
“Overall, the only way I feel, and I’m sure the other girls too, is just, we can’t wait for it to be over,” Stanford says. “This has been a long time coming for all of us, and I just hope that us seeing this case through will empower other women to speak up and do the same.”
“The DA said that more than 30 women contacted prosecutors with allegations,” Stanford notes. “That’s 30 women that had the strength and had it within themselves to even come up to the police. So imagine how many girls are still left out there that he has harmed or he has hurt that didn’t make it to the police, didn’t make that call, were too scared to say something. Like, imagine how many different humans are out there that he has done this to?”
Another accuser, model Tiara Kelly, tells Rolling Stone, “I am happy a trial date is finally set after three years. It’s taken too long for this to happen, which has allowed even more women to be harmed. He has repeatedly shown a pattern of assault, pedophilia, manipulative (behavior), and has no remorse for (his) actions.”
Stanford and Kelly previously spoke to Hollywood Unlocked in a sit-down interview that detailed their alleged experiences with Walker. Kelly says Walker raped her after she agreed to meet him for a photo shoot in 2014.
Walker released rap music under the name “KR” and also acted alongside Halle Berry and Daniel Craig in Kings, a 2017 indie drama set against the backdrop of the public unrest over the police beating of Rodney King. He later played gang member Juju in 2018’s Superfly, an action movie produced by rapper Future as a remake of the 1972 blaxploitation film Super Fly.
Walker faces the possibility of life in prison if convicted as charged. His trial in Van Nuys, California, is set to begin Jan. 11, 2022.
From Rolling Stone US
