Russell Brand Sentenced To More Than 10 Years For Rape And Sexual Assault
A London judge sentenced British comedian and professed born-again Christian Russell Brand to 10 years and six months in prison Monday for raping one woman and sexually assaulting three others.
Brand, 51, will remain on the sex offender registry for life, Britain’s Metropolitan Police said. Judge Joel Bennathan said Brand would likely serve two-thirds of his sentence in prison.
Police are also investigating rape allegations from two other women and have questioned Brand about them. Police said they had given prosecutors their findings, meaning Brand could face additional charges as that investigation continues.
The sentence came after a Southwark Crown Court jury found Brand guilty last week of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault after a four-week trial. Jurors acquitted him of two counts of rape and one count of attempted indecent assault. Brand denied the charges and maintained that his sexual encounters were consensual, the Associated Press reported.
The court heard statements from all four victims Monday. In a statement released by police, one woman thanked officers, prosecutors and a sexual violence adviser for supporting her. “I do not believe that I could have come this far without them.”
Another woman thanked police and prosecutors for giving her a chance to be heard. “I finally feel believed.”
The woman Brand raped said she feared his fame would make it harder for her to be believed. “His fame, wealth and influence created a power imbalance which made me feel powerless,” she said in a statement read in court.
A woman Brand sexually assaulted in 2009 said in her statement that, following the incident, she felt unsafe at work and made a point of having a colleague with her.
Brand moved white rosary beads through his fingers as he listened to the witnesses, Sky News reported. Brand was baptized in the River Thames in April 2024. He understood baptism as a chance to be “reborn in Christ’s name,” he said.
The judge focused on the comedian’s track record, however.
“You had also become a sexual predator,” the judge told Brand as he described the comedian’s rise to fame. The judge praised the women’s “determination and bravery” in coming forward.
Brand’s lawyer, Ian Winter, urged the judge to consider that the rape incident followed consensual sex and argued that Brand had not used his celebrity to take advantage of the woman. He also asked the judge to consider the effect of imprisonment on Brand’s family.
Bennathan cut Brand’s rape term by one year, to nine years. He cited the time since the last offense and Brand’s work helping people with addictions.
The crimes took place between 2004 and 2009, when Brand raped a fan at his home. The three sexual assaults took place at a bar, a radio station and during work on a television project.
The Metropolitan Police began investigating after Channel 4’s “Dispatches,” The Times and The Sunday Times reported allegations against Brand in September 2023. Detectives spoke to more than 100 witnesses and took more than 400 statements. Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy urged others who have experienced sexual violence to report it, regardless of when it happened.
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham praised the women who came forward. He reiterated a plan to put specialist teams for rape and serious sexual offenses in every police force in England and Wales by the end of 2027, a timetable announced in August.
This article was originally published by The Roys Report.
Mark A. Kellner is a reporter based in Mesquite, Nevada. He most recently covered statewide elections for the New York Post and was for three years the Faith & Family Reporter for The Washington Times. Mark is a graduate of the University of the Cumberlands and also attended Boston University’s College of Communication.