Andrew Tate and his brother were charged in Romania Tuesday with rape and human trafficking in Romania, where both will stand trial, according to multiple media reports.
The right-wing former kickboxer and influencer was arrested in December, and has been under house arrest in Bucharest since. Tate was charged Tuesday with “forming an organized crime group to sexually exploit women,” the BBC and Guardian reported, citing an indictment that names Tate and three others.
The indictment says the defendants engaged in human trafficking in Romania, the U.S. and the U.K. Romanian authorities just last week served the defendants with papers detailing upgraded charges, CNN reported. They are accused of recruiting women from social media, then exploiting them to create adult content distributed online.
Charges include offenses against seven women, The Guardian reported Tuesday. Tate and his brother Tristan have denied any wrongdoing. A U.S.-based attorney for the brothers could not be immediately reached.
Tate rose to internet infamy after the former professional mixed martial artist was a guest on the U.K. version of “Big Brother” in 2016. Comments and videos he had previously made on Twitter got him kicked off the show, but by then he had already established his brand – as a misogynistic, money-obsessed maven of masculinity, a persona he peddled successfully until his arrest.
