T.I., Tiny will not face charges for alleged sexual assault in L.A.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office will not be charging the couple due to an expired statute of limitations, according to reports.
Rapper Tip “T.I.” Harris and his wife, singer Tameka “Tiny” Cottle-Harris, will not face charges for alleged sexual assault in Los Angeles.
According to court documents obtained by several news outlets, including PEOPLE magazine, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office will not be charging the couple due to an expired statute of limitations.
“In 2021, the complaining witness reported to LAPD that she believed that in 2005, the suspects, who she met while out with friends, sexually assaulted her,” documents note. However, the statute of limitations for sexual assault is 10 years.
“Without the strength and weaknesses of the evidence being evaluated, the case is declined due to the expiration of the Statute of Limitations,” the document reads.
In a statement to PEOPLE, the couple’s attorney, Shawn Holley said, “Mr. and Mrs. Harris are pleased, but not surprised, by the District Attorney’s decision to dismiss these meritless allegations. We appreciate the DA’s careful review of the case and are grateful to be able to put the matter behind us and move on.”
As previously reported, allegations that the reality TV stars frequently recruited, drugged and assaulted women at their Atlanta home began in late January when a former friend, Sabrina Peterson, made the accusation and invited women who’d been victimized to share their experiences. Dozens then made claims, which Harris and Cottle-Harris vehemently denied.
The celebrity pair previously claimed they had “difficulty” with Peterson for over a decade, but eventually, more women came forward, supporting her allegations.
The victim in the L.A. case claims she had drank two cocktails, yet a single sip of a Patron drink given to her by Cottle-Harris drugged her before she was assaulted by them in their hotel room, according to a report from The Daily Beast. The woman provided investigators with descriptors of the famous couple’s bodies and grooming habits.
The L.A. victim’s attorney, Tyrone Blackburn, implored the states of California and Georgia to open investigations into the couple’s alleged pattern of “sexual abuse, forced ingestion of illegal narcotics, kidnapping, terroristic threats and false imprisonment.”
Harris, Cottle-Harris and their family famously starred on the reality show, T.I. and Tiny: The Family Hustle, then T.I. and Tiny: Friends & Family Hustle, which halted production after the allegations emerged. VH1 has not announced if the show will return, given the new legal developments.
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