Social media celebrity Andrew Tate, born in the United States but raised in the United Kingdom, was arrested in Romania on Tuesday and accused of human trafficking, rape, and organizing a group to sexually abuse women. Tate is charged with earning millions of followers by promoting toxic masculinity that promotes unhealthy sexual practices.
Tate was arrested and accused of his crimes alongside his brother Tristan and two female suspects from Romania. The prosecutor’s office claims that seven women were tricked into thinking they were in a relationship with the defendants, and as a result, the Tates have been placed under house arrest until the outcome of the inquiry into the charges of abuse.
Andrew Tate, age 36, is suspected of raping one of the victims, while Tristan, age 34, is accused of instigating others to participate in aggressive behavior, according to the prosecution.
They have denied wrongdoing, pleading not guilty.
The Tate brothers, former kickboxing competitors, are the most high-profile suspects in the human trafficking case now on trial in Romania.
Misogynist Andrew Tate has amassed a young male fan base by projecting an image of ostentatious masculinity with a string of hot girlfriends and a garage full of flashy cars.
The police arrested the four suspects from December 29th to March 31st. A judge in Bucharest put them under house arrest on March 31, and the prosecution sought to extend it on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, a judge will decide whether to extend the current 30-day incarceration or to replace it with a lighter sentence.
The trial will not begin immediately.
In line with Romanian legislation, the case will be sent to the Bucharest court’s preliminary chamber, where a judge will spend the next month looking into the legality of the case files.
The maximum punishment for rape and the maximum sentence for adult trafficking is ten years in prison.
Prosecutors also claimed they were looking into four other individuals in a different case for possible witness tampering, trafficking of minors and adults, and money laundering.
