Entertainment
Musician Rex Orange County cleared of six counts of sexual assault due to lack of evidence-Rachael O'Connor-Entertainment – Metro
The musician had pleaded not guilty to all six counts.
Singer Rex Orange County has announced charges of sexual assault against him have been dropped (Picture: Redferns)
Musician Rex Orange County has been cleared of six counts of sexual assaults after the charges against him were dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service.
The singer, real name Alexander O’Connor, appeared at Southwark Crown Court in October following allegations that he assaulted a woman in London.
O’Connor had been accused of assaulting a woman in a taxi and at his home in the capital, which he had denied.
The 24-year-old had pleaded not guilty to the charges and was released on unconditional bail ahead of a planned trial which had due to take place in January.
However with weeks to go until the trial was set to begin, all charges against O’Connor have been dropped, with the CPP citing a lack of evidence.
Announcing the news on Twitter, O’Connor said in a statement that the CPP ‘reviewed the evidence and decided that there is no merit in this case going to trial.’
The musician said he is ‘grateful that the independent evidence has cleared me of any wrongdoing’ (Picture: Getty Images)
He went on: ‘I have always denied these allegations and am grateful that the independent evidence has cleared me of any wrongdoing. I have never assaulted anyone and I do not condone violence or abusive behaviour of any kind.’
The Sunflower singer said he wanted to ‘clarify’ what he had been accused of, having been unable to speak about it previously and stating there were ‘inaccuracies’ being circulated.
He claimed he had been ‘wrongly accused of touching someone one evening on their leg, neck, back and bottom. That led to six charges of sexual assault.’
O’Connor said police obtained CCTV footage which ‘contradicted’ the woman’s accusations, and said the woman’s partner ‘was also present throughout the evening in question and gave a statement to the police which did not support the allegations against me.’
He finished by saying it had been ‘a difficult time for everyone involved’ and thanked his family and loved ones for their ‘support’.
Reps for the artist had said O’Connor was ‘shocked’ by the allegations when he was accused earlier this year, telling Variety: ‘Alex is shocked by the allegations, which he denies, and looks forward to clearing his name in court.’
O’Connor thanked his family and loved ones for their support in a ‘difficult time’ (Picture: Getty Images)
They added at the time that he is ‘unable to make any further comment because of the ongoing proceedings.’
A CPS spokesperson told The Sun: ‘CPS prosecutors have a duty to keep each case under review. Having carefully considered all the evidence, our legal test for a prosecution was no longer met and so we will not be continuing a prosecution.
‘We will always seek to prosecute sexual offences, where our legal test is met, no matter how challenging.’
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Rex Orange County rose to fame through O’Connor self-releasing his debut album in 2015, followed by a feature on Tyler, the Creator’s Grammy-nominated album Flower Boy in 2017.
In July 2022, O’Connor announced that he was cancelling his upcoming tour dates in Australia, New Zealand and Europe owing to ‘unforeseen personal circumstances.’
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