An old incident is coming back to haunt Charlamagne Tha God.
In 2001, CTG, who was 22, was accused of raping 15-year old Jessica Reid at a house party he threw. Now she wants to reopen the case.
Here's what allegedly happened 17 years ago, via The Blast:
According to the police report, cops responded to the Short Stay Naval Recreational Center in Charleston, South Carolina on the early morning of June 9, 2001 in response to an alleged rape.
They came into contact with two females, one of them being Jessica Reid. Police noted the girls appeared very intoxicated and did not know where they were or how they got to the location. Reid was “crying uncontrollably” and her friend explained that someone had picked them up from a nearby residence and “gave them a liquid to drink” that one of the girls claimed “tasted like soda.”
Reid’s friend said the last thing she remembered was waking up “with a man trying to kiss her.” She told the officer she fought the man off, and then found Reid “in the room across from where she was, naked and crying stating that she had been raped.” The girl then called her mom, who called 911.
Reid initially fingered CTG for the crime and the doctors who examined her corroborated her story that a sexual assault had taken place. But then she refused to cooperate with prosecutors on the advice of her mother.
Without her cooperation, CTG was able to plead guilty to contributing to the delinquency of a minor -- not rape -- and was sentenced to three years probation.
CTG discussed the incident in a 2013 interview with DJ Akademiks. He denied doing anything with Reid and argued they just pinned it on him because it was his party and they didn't have any other suspects. He also claimed he left the party early and DNA evidence didn't tie him to Reid -- hence the lesser charges.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY8ELayRhyABut now Reid and her mom want the case reopened against CTG on the original charges of “willfully, unlawfully, and feloniously engaging in penile/vaginal intercourse with a fifteen-year-old female child."
Reid’s mother, Joslyn, tells The Blast she was trying to protect her daughter from suffering when she was 15-years-old and stopped her from cooperating in the prosecution. Joslyn says she now supports her daughter “100%” and believes closure is needed to truly end Jessica’s “suffering and pain.”
South Carolina has no statute of limitations on sex crimes.
There is suddenly a petition to have CTG fired from The Breakfast Club.
We demand that iHeart Media fire Charlamagne Tha God from The Breakfast Club.
In 2001, 15-year-old Jessica Reid accused Charlamagne Tha God of drugging and raping her. He pled guilty to the much lesser charge of having sex with a minor. Now that Jessica is older, she wants her case re-opened.
Videos have surfaced where Charlamagne denied involvement, but court documents show he did have sexual contact with the victim. He can still be prosecuted, and he should be. We want to send a powerful message to all of the people who like to prey on innocent children that it's not going to happen on our watch! No matter how much money or influence you have, we will not allow you to hurt our children.
So please help us take a stand and get #Justice4jessica. She needs closure. We want iHeart Media to stop supporting Charlamagne Tha God's behavior and fire him from The Breakfast Club. Pedophiles shouldn't profit off of pain! #justice4closure
The petition is well on its way to getting the 6000 digital signatures it has requested.
Things have been going very well for Charlamagne lately; he recently inked a deal with HBO for an interview series. We'll see how this reignited controversy effects that and his radio gig.
Update: CTG's legal team has responded to the renewed allegations:
"More than seventeen years ago, Charlamagne was accused of a sexual assault. He never had sexual relations or any physical contact with the accuser and even provided DNA to prove it."
"At the time of these claims, Charlamagne cooperated fully with authorities, and after the investigation, this charge against him was dropped."
"Charlamagne has spoken about this many times over the years in public, including in his book. While Charlamagne has empathy for all sexual assault victims, he cannot take responsibility for a crime he did not commit.”