By Lisa Baertlein
LOS ANGELES, July 18 (Reuters) – Social media influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate have been arrested in the United States after British authorities issued 38 new charges against the brothers, including rape, actual bodily harm and human trafficking.
Britain is seeking to extradite the brothers to face prosecution for both the new charges and pre-existing ones.
Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service said it was bringing the further charges against Andrew, 39, and Tristan Tate, 38, after identifying four additional victims. The Tates face charges in Britain relating to alleged offences between July 2010 and August 2017.
It said Andrew Tate was being charged with seven further counts of rape, as well as charges relating to sex trafficking and indecent images of a child, while Tristan Tate’s charges included two counts of rape and three counts of arranging or facilitating trafficking for sexual exploitation.
“We have decided to prosecute Andrew and Tristan Tate for further offences including rape, arranging or facilitating trafficking for sexual exploitation and offences relating to indecent images of a child,” Malcolm McHaffie, head of the Special Crime Division at the CPS, said in a statement.
The Tate brothers, who have dual U.S. and British citizenship, have denied any wrongdoing.
The U.S. Marshals Service did not immediately return requests for comment.
NO PLACE FOR MALE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS, SAYS UK
Assistant chief constable Karena Thomas, lead for Britain’s Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire major crime unit, said the total number of charges against them stood at 59.
“I can now confirm that officers from the United States have arrested both Andrew and Tristan Tate in relation to this matter overnight,” she told reporters.
“I want to make it clear there is no place for male violence against women and girls in our society and we will continue to work tirelessly to support victims and investigate all reports made to us.”
The brothers were arrested in Miami, according to multiple news outlets.
The arrests mark a new chapter in the widening legal troubles for the brothers, who face criminal proceedings in Romania, where authorities have been investigating them since December 2022.
The brothers have built a large online following promoting their views on masculinity and wealth, while Andrew Tate has previously described himself as a misogynist.
Andrew Tate is due to face trial in Britain this year in a civil case brought by four women for alleged physical and sexual abuse.
The four claimants, who have been granted anonymity, allege Tate subjected them to physical or sexual violence between 2013 and 2015. Two say they were in an intimate relationship with Tate, while two worked for his online webcam business.
Andrew Tate denies the allegations. In his written defence, his lawyers said the claims are false and that all sexual activity was consensual.
(Reporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; additional reporting by Elizabeth Piper in London, Editing by Sergio Non, Michael Perry and Christina Fincher)
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