ATTORNEY-AT-LAW Christopher Townsend yesterday confirmed that Australian police have thrown out the sexual abuse case involving singer Richie Stephens.
"The matter never made it to the court. The police conducted their investigation and determined that the accuser's story was too incredible, so it was thrown out. Mr Stephens is just continuing with his life. He's glad that the Australian police has come out and confirmed everything he has been saying. He's also happy people are now seeing the truth. He isn't giving this matter any more attention," Townsend told the Jamaica Observer.
Last Friday, Elaine Lim uploaded a YouTube video alleging that Stephens sexually assaulted her between November 12 and 13 2019 in Melbourne during the Australian leg of the Jamaica Flava Tour.
The Singaporean is an art educator and former soldier in the Singapore Armed Forces.
Townsend said her defamatory allegations have not impacted Stephens' career. He is unsure why the matter resurfaced almost two years later.
"These allegations have been made for some time. They were made in 2019 and he's gotten bookings and gone on tour since then," the attorney said.
"It's a construct of her mind. I don't know if she thinks she can gain anything from it now why she's brought it up again. I was listening to her on Mr Vegas's podcast [on Sunday], and her story was just so incredible. Her husband or boyfriend joined and he just made things even worse," Townsend continued.
During The Mr Vegas Show on Sunday - viewed by almost 5,000 across various social media - Lim alleged that she rejected Stephens' alleged sexual advances multiple times.
"The extent I thought he would go to was, he would try to fondle me, he would try to kiss me 'cause these are all things he has done. During that time, every single time, I said 'No'...I thought in my head, 'Okay. When I say no, I'm gonna be respected,' " she said.
Lim added that prior to the alleged rape, she developed a certain level of trust for Stephens.
"...I ended up calling him uncle because he called me his niece. I thought he would protect me, he wouldn't try to hurt me. Maybe he would try something funny, try to flirt, but beyond that, nothing else. So, that was the line we all thought was the threshold," she said.
On Saturday, Stephens (given name Richard Stephenson) uploaded a three-minute, 50-second video to his social media platforms to counter all claims Lim made in her video the day before.
"I owe it to my family, to my friends and to my fans to come out and set the record straight...She [Elaine Lim] was on tour with me in Australia in 2019. She made a formal report to the police against me, she did a rape kit...What she did not tell you [is that] a thorough investigation was done by Australian police. I was detained. They took a statement from me, a statement from her, a statement from other people and there were cameras around," Stephens started.
"...At the end of their investigations they found that her allegations were simply baseless. I'm really sorry for her to know that she would go that far to try and get some recognition...Some people believe that likes are far more important than the truth," the entertainer added.
Stephens began recording music in the late 1980s. In the 1990s he was part of the powerful Main Street Records crew, led by producer Danny Browne. His popular songs include Trying to Get to You, By Your Side, Fight Back ft Garnet Silk, and Legacy ft Cobra.
During that decade, Stephens was signed to Motown Records, and later established his Pot of Gold label.
In 2006 Stephens was awarded the Jamaican Governor General's Achievement Award for contributing to civic, social and recreational projects in his home parish of Westmoreland.
