British rapper and YouTuber Yung Filly has told a court in Western Australia that the atmosphere between him and the woman accusing him of rape was positive before the alleged incident. The 30-year-old, whose real name is Andres Felipe Valencia Barrientos, gave evidence on Monday at the District Court of Western Australia, a week into his trial.
According to the prosecution case, Barrientos is accused of sexually assaulting a woman in his hotel room after performing at a nightclub in Hillarys, a coastal suburb of Perth, in 2024. He has pleaded not guilty to six counts of sexual penetration without consent, three counts of assault occasioning bodily harm and one count of strangulation. The woman was 20 at the time of the alleged offences.
What Barrientos told the court
During his testimony, Barrientos said he had been attracted to the woman when they met at the concert venue, where he was in the VIP section and she was leaning over from the general admission area. He denied touching her inappropriately, saying he remembered placing a hand on her waist but not putting his hands down her pants or touching her breast. He also told the court the “vibes were good” when they later arrived at his hotel.
Barrientos said a security guard took the woman’s phone as a routine privacy measure. The court had previously heard allegations that the pair had consensual sex before Barrientos became violent and the woman told him to stop. The performer, who was touring Australia at the time, has been on bail since being charged and was allowed to return to the UK in September for four months before travelling back to Western Australia for the trial.
Alongside his music career, Barrientos is known for his work with YouTube group Beta Squad, his appearance on the celebrity edition of Bake Off on Channel 4 and presenting on BBC Three. He has 1.8 million YouTube subscribers, three million followers on TikTok and 2.4 million on Instagram.
Source: bbc.co.uk
