UK rapper and YouTube personality Andres Felipe Valencia Barrientos, popularly known as Yung Filly, has pleaded not guilty to rape and assault charges stemming from allegations linked to an encounter with a woman following a performance in Australia.
The 30-year-old entertainer stood trial over allegations involving a 20-year-old woman at a hotel in Perth after performing at a nightclub in the coastal suburb of Hillarys in 2024.
Following deliberations, a jury in Western Australia acquitted Barrientos of three counts of sexual penetration without consent. However, he was convicted on two counts of assault occasioning bodily harm. The jury also acquitted him of one additional assault charge and a charge of strangulation.
Jurors were unable to reach unanimous verdicts on three remaining rape charges, leaving prosecutors to decide whether to seek a retrial on those counts or discontinue the proceedings.
Barrientos, who pleaded not guilty to all the charges, reportedly became emotional as the verdicts were delivered. He remains on bail and is expected to return to court on August 21, when a sentencing date for the assault convictions is likely to be set.
During the trial on Friday, Barrientos told the court that he was attracted to the complainant after meeting her at the concert venue and denied behaving inappropriately before they later went to his hotel. He maintained that their subsequent sexual encounter was entirely consensual.
The prosecution, however, argued that although the pair initially engaged in consensual sex, the encounter later became violent. Prosecutors alleged that Barrientos bit the woman, caused bruising and attempted to choke her despite her repeatedly asking him to stop. Photographs showing bruises and bite marks were tendered in court as evidence to support the allegations.
Barrientos admitted biting the woman but insisted the marks were consensual “love bites.” He denied assaulting or attempting to strangle her and rejected claims that she repeatedly asked him to stop during the encounter.
In their closing arguments, prosecutors portrayed Barrientos as an entitled celebrity who exploited his position and ignored the complainant’s lack of consent once the encounter allegedly turned violent. The defence, on the other hand, urged jurors to reject the prosecution’s case, arguing that the complainant’s account contained significant inconsistencies and falsehoods that undermined her credibility and created reasonable doubt.