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French skipper Escoffier faces investigation over sexual misconduct claims
A leading French skipper who unexpectedly quit the round-the-world Ocean Race earlier this month faces a legal probe over allegations of sexual assault against a crew member, a source in the French Sailing Federation said on Tuesday.
Issued on: 14/06/2023 - 08:20
Kevin Escoffier, 43, announced on June 3 that he was abandoning the Ocean Race while skippering the Swiss boat PRB-Holcim after an alleged "incident" with a member of his team during a stop in Newport in the United States on May 15.
His boat had led after each of the first four legs of the race.
After investigating, the French Sailing Federation has reported the allegations to prosecutors in Paris in order to launch a legal enquiry, a source at the federation told AFP, asking not to be identified.
Federation chief Jean-Luc Denechau told AFP last week that the incident involved "inappropriate behaviour towards a woman during a night-out".
Escoffier hit international headlines in 2020 when he was dramatically rescued in the south Atlantic by a rival while competing in the Vendée Globe race.
He spent 11 hours clinging to his lifeboat after his boat dramatically split in two.
He won the Ocean Race in 2017-18 and also the Transat Jacques-Vabre in 2005.
(AFP)
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4 women accuse Andrew Tate of rape, sexual assault in civil legal papers
By A.L. Lee
Four women served Andrew Tate legal papers detailing allegations including violence against women, rape, physical assaults, and victim intimidation. File Photo by Robert Ghement/EPA-EFE
June 14 (UPI) -- Andrew Tate was served legal papers Wednesday in a civil case brought by four women accusing him of rape and sexual assault.
The law firm McCue Jury & Partners said it delivered a letter to Tate, who is currently under house arrest in Romania on human trafficking charges, detailing allegations including violence against women, rape, physical assaults, and victim intimidation -- charges that are set to be presented before the high court in London in the coming weeks.
The firm said the suit seeks "justice and accountability and compensation for Tate's victims" and aims to encourage Britain to launch a "criminal investigation into Tate's crimes in the hope of his prosecution and conviction in the U.K. in addition to the charges he is facing in Romania."
The abuse occurred between 2013 and 2016 while Tate was living in Britain, court papers allege.
One of the victims claims Tate sexually assaulted her in 2014 after the pair's first meeting.
"While having sex, he began to choke me and choked me so hard that I lost consciousness," the woman said in a statement to investigators. "I thought I was going to die. When I woke up, he was continuing to rape me. It is difficult to say that because it is so upsetting, but that is what it was."
The names of victims were withheld but the legal papers drawn up by McCue Jury & Partners reveal the women are all in their late 20s and early 30s.
"Despite Tate's outrageous claims that these women aren't even real, on reading the papers, he should now recall how real they are," said Matthew Jury, a managing partner at the McCue law firm. "Talk of the 'Matrix' and 'false flags' hold no weight in court. The survivors look forward to seeing him there."
A spokesperson for Tate said he was "saddened that a few opportunistic women who he has allegedly spent time with nearly a decade ago have decided to try and take advantage of his current situation."
In late 2022, Tate and his brother Tristan were arrested on suspicion of human trafficking and forming an organized crime group, but both men were released to house arrest in April after a judge ruled against prosecutors who wanted to keep them locked up as the investigation unfolded.
Romania's anti-organized crime unit said it had increased the charges against Tate to "human trafficking in continued form" and another victim was added to the case.
A criminal indictment could come down later this month, with the Tate brothers facing more than a decade in prison if found guilty of strong-arming victims in an effort to create a paid pornography service for social media platforms.
Tate has denied the charges, and reacted defiantly when the civil case documents were served at his home on Wednesday, officials said.
Dances With Wolves actor facing additional sex assault charges in Alberta
Court documents say he was leader of cult-like group called The Circle
Kelly Geraldine Malone · The Canadian Press ·
Posted: Jun 14, 2023 7:37 AM PDT |
Former actor Nathan Lee Chasing His Horse, center, also known as Nathan Chasing Horse, appears in court
during his bail hearing at North Las Vegas Justice Court on Feb. 8, 2023.
(Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal/The Associated Press)
Police in Alberta have issued warrants for Nathan Chasing Horse, a former actor in the movie Dances With Wolves, for nine charges including sexual exploitation, sexual assault and removing a child from Canada under the age of 16.
Tsuut'ina Nation Police Service said in a news release that the investigation has spanned several years with one of the offences dating back to 2005.
They must be working on Indian time.
The actor has been in jail in Las Vegas since his arrest in January in southern Nevada, where he is charged with 18 felonies, including sexual assault of a minor, child abuse and kidnapping.
Court documents say he was the leader of a cult-like group called The Circle. Documents allege he used his position to gain the trust of Indigenous families and their children, and take underage wives.
The Nevada prosecution was put on pause as the actor, who played young Sioux character Smiles a Lot in Kevin Costner's 1990 Oscar-winning film, appealed to the state's Supreme Court to dismiss the case.
His lawyers have argued that his accusers wanted to have sex with him.
Chasing Horse is also facing criminal charges in Montana and British Columbia.
The U.S. arrest report alleges a British Columbia woman reported Chasing Horse to RCMP, who contacted Las Vegas police, prompting the investigation that led to his arrest.
The woman alleged she was 13 years old when she met the actor while he was performing ceremonies in Canada. She alleges he began to have sex with her when she was 17.
Tsuut'ina police, who serve the First Nation west of Calgary, said the prosecution of Chasing Horse in different legal jurisdictions has required significant planning and co-operation. In 2015, the Tsuut'ina band council passed a resolution banning the actor from all community events.
More information on the Alberta investigation is to be released Wednesday.
U.S. arrest documents detailed how the Alberta police service received a complaint earlier this year from a woman who alleges she was sexually assaulted as a 15-year-old and taken to the United States as one of Chasing Horse's multiple wives.
That woman eventually returned to Canada because she could no longer take the physical and emotional abuse, the documents said.
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