2 more women accuse actor Russell Brand of rape, sexual assault
Jan. 20 (UPI) — Two more women have accused actor Russell Brand of rape and sexual assault, and a judge in London on Tuesday granted Brand bail ahead of a Feb. 17 pretrial hearing.
Brand, 50, appeared remotely from his home in South Florida via video in the Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London, during which new charges were entered based on complaints filed by two women.
The additional charges accuse Brand of one count of rape and one count of sexual assault in 2009. The bail amount was not announced.
Those charges are in addition to two counts of rape, two counts of sexual assault and one count of indecent assault filed against Brand that are alleged by four women from 1999 to 2005.
Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring told Brand that one of the charges against him only can be tried in a crown court and granted him an unannounced bail amount ahead of his scheduled pretrial hearing in London’s Southwark Crown Court on Feb. 17.
Tuesday’s hearing lasted about six minutes, during which Brand only acknowledged his name and date of birth.
The entertainer previously denied all allegations against him and said he only had consensual relations with his accusers and all other women.
He called the claims against him a “coordinated attack,” The Guardian reported.
One accuser said Brand raped her in 1999 while in southern England, and another said he “indecently assaulted” her in London in 2004.
A third accuser said Brand sexually assaulted and orally raped her in 2004, while a fourth victim accused him of sexual assault between 2004 and 2005.
Brand in May pleaded not guilty to those charges.
The actor and comedian was married to singer Katy Perry from October 2010 to December 2011 and has appeared in several films and television programs.
He is married to Laura Gallacher, who is the mother of Brand’s daughters, Peggy and Mabel.