Three years ago, Sean Kingston, his bodyguard and a member of his band were accused of rape after having sex with a concertgoer in a Seattle hotel room. Police rushed to the scene, and the girl headed to the hospital. After interviewing everyone involved, however, the alleged victim wasn’t deemed credible enough for the case to move forward. She’s now twenty-two, and without any other options, she’s decided to take her case to civil court.
According to TMZ, the supposed victim attended a Kingston/ Justin Bieber concert back in July of 2010. Afterwards, she allegedly smoked pot, pounded between 7 and 10 shots and was invited to attend a meet-and-greet inside the singer’s hotel room. When she arrived, Kingston was allegedly naked and accompanied by his bodyguard and a member of his band. The three men then allegedly gang raped her while she was intoxicated and incapable of giving consent. Whether she’s claiming they physically forced her or simply took advantage of her drunkenness is unclear, but either way, an unidentified friend then entered the room and stopped whatever the hell was going on from continuing.
The alleged victim claims in her suit that she now has mood swings, panic attacks and problems sleeping since the incident. She wants at least five million dollars for her pain and suffering, though it may be an uphill battle to get there. The burden of proof needed in civil court isn’t nearly as high as in a criminal trial, but on the first go around, the district attorney didn’t even think there was enough evidence to go to trial, let alone convict Kingston and the others. In the time since this lawsuit was first filled, the singer filed a motion refuting the claims against him and arguing the sex was legal and consensual.
The line between being an asshole and pressuring a girl into doing something she doesn’t want to do and actually commuting a crime is always a little blurry when there is drinking involved, but that line is still there. Consequently, it will be up to this girl and her attorney to convince the jury this case is a matter of victimhood and not regret. If she was really on the verge of blackout drunkenness, and these three guys forced her to have group sex, there should be repercussions. If she was simply a little tipsy, willingly engaged in sexual acts she was a little uncomfortable with and later told her friend it was rape, this case will probably go the same way as the cancelled criminal trial.
Kingston has had his problems with jet ski accidents over the years, but he’s never been accused of anything like this. Here’s to hoping the truth eventually emerges, and the court is able to figure out the best course of action for everyone involved.
