Boyband star Oritse Williams walked free from court today after being cleared of raping a woman in a hotel room after a gig.The former JLS singer, 32, was accused of attacking the woman in December 2016 after she joined him and tour manager Jamien Nagadhana at the hotel in Wolverhampton.
She claimed she had been drunk and made it clear that she did not want to have sex with the singer, during a trial at Wolverhampton crown court.
But Mr Williams said he was “perplexed” by the rape allegation as the sex had been consensual, and insisted he had done nothing wrong.
"I am feeling bewildered at this whole thing. I do feel taken advantage of. I just feel like a musician, an artist that has been put into a position where they have been taken advantage of”, he said.
Mr Williams, who was one of four members of the chart-topping JLS band when it shot to stardom on The X Factor, said he met the woman and two of her friends at a nightclub after performing a solo concert.
"I thought she was a beautiful person in general - we had a vibe”, he said of the woman.
"She said [at the hotel] that she didn't want to leave - she wants to stay with me."
At court this morning, a jury found Mr Williams, from Croydon, not guilty of rape after deliberating for two hours and 17 minutes.
He smiled and clasped his hands together after the verdicts had been delivered, saying "thank you" towards Judge Michael Challinor QC as he was freed from the dock.
Mr Nagadhana, from Hounslow, hugged two women sitting in the public gallery after he was cleared of sexual assault and assault by penetration. He had been accused of attacking the woman after she had claimed she was raped.
Both men had denied the charges against them.
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