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Artist News Legal
Prosecutors confirm no action to be taken over Nelly rape allegations
By Chris Cooke | Published on Thursday 14 December 2017
Prosecutors in Washington state have confirmed that they will not proceed with rape charges against Nelly, after his alleged victim announced said that she would refuse to testify.
As previously reported, the music star was arrested in October after a woman alleged that he attacked her after a show in Auburn, Washington. A police report stated that a woman made a 911 call in the early hours of Saturday 7 Oct saying that she had been raped by Nelly on his tour bus. He strongly denied the allegations throughout.
A few days later a lawyer representing the alleged victim announced that her client had decided not to not pursue the case because “she believes the system is going to fail her”. Attorney Karen Koehler criticised how said system deals with rape victims, adding: “We do not live in a society where a 21 year old college student can feel safe enough to pursue criminal charges against a celebrity for an alleged rape”.
Koehler then said that her client was “telling the Auburn Police Department and the King County Prosecutor’s Office to put a halt to the criminal investigation of Cornell Haynes Jr (aka Nelly). She will not testify in a criminal proceeding against him”.
Which means it is perhaps unsurprising that the King County Prosecutor’s Office has now decided that it cannot continue with any case against Nelly. According to TMZ, officers there have confirmed that the case against the musician is now closed because of the victim’s decision to decline to co-operate with their investigation.
