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By Latrishka Thomas
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Jurors in the High Court trial of an entertainer accused of sexual offences heard recordings on Friday in which he reportedly said “things got hot” and described the alleged incident as unintentional.
The entertainer, who cannot be named because of legal restrictions, has pleaded not guilty to serious indecency and indecent assault arising from an alleged incident on 23 December 2024.
The trial began on Monday before Justice Ann Marie Smith and a jury of six men and three women.
Prosecutors allege that the entertainer approached the complainant and a friend and offered them work at an event, but instead drove them to his private residence. They allege that he tried to persuade both women to have sex with him simultaneously and, after the complainant refused, kissed her and touched her private parts without consent.
The court was shown screenshots of messages exchanged between the accused and the complainant. In one exchange, he asked why she had done what she did. When she asked what he meant, he sent a voice note saying she got “us all hype and hot and then just back out”.
In another voice note, he said she knew he wanted her and that he had been telling her so for a long time.
Jurors also heard a recording made months later, when the accused visited the complainant’s home and spoke to her and her mother. In it, he said what happened was “not intentional” and that “things got hot”, adding that the situation had been misinterpreted.
The complainant’s mother could be heard urging her daughter to give him “one chance” and forgive him because of her faith. She also warned that court proceedings would be difficult because some people would be against her.
The accused could be heard agreeing in the background and promising not to approach the complainant again.
In the recording, he told the complainant that “nobody gonna win but the state”. He asked whether she wanted to proceed with the case and said that even murder cases were not being called.
He asked her to tell police she did not want to press charges and said he would “sort her out through his lawyer”. He also apologised to the family.
In another recording, he said they had not had sex but acknowledged that he might have touched her.
Defence lawyer Wayne Benjamin Marsh questioned the investigation, suggesting that the screenshots could have been altered because police had not extracted them directly. He also pointed to inconsistencies in the evidence.
The trial is scheduled to resume today.