Chris Brown Sues Rape Accuser for Defamation

The woman is now facing up to one year in prison over the "slanderous accusation"

BY Brock ThiessenPublished Jan 24, 2019

Following Chris Brown's arrest and release over alleged rape charges earlier this week, the R&B star is now suing his accuser for defamation.

Brown filed a defamation case in Paris courts on January 24, according to files obtained by The Hollywood Reporter. The filing only names the defendant as Miss K., but the case is seeking a criminal prosecution for the "slanderous accusation" of the accuser.

As THR points out, Brown's lawyer is pursuing the case under the penal code — instead of as a civil case — and it could result in one year of jail time for the defendant.

His lawyer, Raphael Chiche, said that Brown "vigorously protests his innocence" and that he was directing him to file a complaint due to the "slander of which he has unfairly been the subject."

The woman previously French tabloids that Brown, his bodyguard and another man raped her in the singer's hotel room at the Mandarin Oriental in Paris last week. She told the media that the men allegedly assaulted her for 30 minutes, leaving her so traumatized and shaken that she did not immediately report the incident to police.

In response to Brown's lawsuit, the lawyer for the rape accuser said his client was under "great psychological pressure" at a luxury hotel when "non-consensual sex" allegedly took place, the Associated Press reports.

The accuser's lawyer, Franck Serfati, told AP the woman, who is a 23-year-old student, "was not pressured physically" in Brown's hotel suite but in an "environment with great psychological pressure" from large, older men.

The lawyer said that Brown allegedly "cornered her in a room that was locked," adding, "There were forced sexual relations and then he went to talk to other men — it was a masculine environment."

As previously reported, Brown was arrested by Paris police on Tuesday (January 22), but he was released from custody is less than 24 hours without charge. Upon release, Brown was quick to deny all the allegations against him.

While the case is still being investigated by police in Paris, Brown is reportedly free to leave the country and is cooperating with authorities.

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