British rapper Yung Filly assaulted a 20-year-old fan in a hotel room after meeting her at a gig on his 2024 Australian tour, but did not rape her, a jury found.
The YouTube star — whose real name is whose real name is Andres Felipe Valencia Barrientos — was charged with six counts of sexual assault, three counts of assault and one count of choking relating to an incident inside an Intercontinental hotel room in Perth.
After three days of deliberation, a jury on Friday found the rapper guilty of two counts of assault – relating to biting the woman’s face, neck and breasts and leaving an open wound on her.
Mr Barrientos was found not guilty of three counts of sexual penetration without consent, and the jury failed to reach a verdict on another three of the same charges.
He was also found not guilty of one count each of assault and choking.
Mr Barrientos could potentially face a retrial on these counts in the future.
During the trial, State prosecutor Danielle Clarke argued the rapper was an “entitled man” who had very little regard for the woman who was excited and desperate to meet her idol.
Ms Clarke alleged what began as consensual sex quickly escalated into violence, and stopped becoming consensual when the rapper started biting and hitting the woman.
The woman, who cannot be named, told the court when she told Yung Filly “No” he bit and hit her harder.
“It did break skin. I had to get a tetanus shot later at the hospital,” she said in court.
“During this as well he was also choking me. It was happening very fast.
“(When the biting) stopped, he told me to stop saying no then hit me instead … hard enough to jolt my body and turn my head.
“It was hard, very hard, I tried to cover my face, but he got both my hands and pinned me down.
“He pinned me down and hit me again on the left side of my face.”
However, Yung Filly’s lawyer David Edwardson told the court the young woman was an enthusiastic and willing participant when the sex started.
“The question is whether the violence or sexual acts occurred as (she) said they did, it is common ground they had sex in the hotel room,” he said
“This is not a court of morals, you are not here to say whether you agree or disagree about how this woman was treated by Mr Barrientos.”
Mr Edwardson argued that when people were “in the moment” they did not ask whether sexual activity was consensual frame by frame.
“This notion of a power imbalance and he didn’t ask questions about sexual boundaries, or he somehow had a responsibility to ask her before each sexual act in the bedroom is nonsense,” he said.
“It applies both ways, there was an age difference of nine years, but she was an adult.
“One thing is perfectly clear, she was an enthusiastic and willing participant when the sex started.”
Mr Edwardson argued medical evidence shown in court was unable to establish that Mr Barrientos raped, assaulted or strangled the woman.
He will next appear at court for sentence mention on August 21.
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