Superfly actor Kaalan Walker has had his career cut short after a court sentenced him to 50 years life imprisonment for sex crimes against women, including teenagers. The 27-year-old was convicted of three counts of forcible rape, two counts of statutory rape, and two counts of rape by intoxication.
Walker is alleged to have used his “celebrity status” to target women. According to the police, he would meet his victims on social media, like Twitter and Instagram, and promised to help them advance their careers. The rapper would target women, mostly models, to meet him at a video shoot, or the home of some famous personality. But once alone with the victims, he sexually assaulted them.
AFP
Arrested in 2018
Superior Court Judge Joseph Brandolino ordered Walker to register as a “sex offender” for the rest of his life. Cynthia Wallace, the Deputy District Attorney, described the young actor to be “truly a predator”.
Walker was arrested in September 2018 and accused of sexual assaults on aspiring models, but he was released on bail. On April, a Van Nuys jury convicted Walker of three counts of forcible rape, two counts each of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, and rape of an intoxicated victim, and one count of assault with intent to commit oral copulation involving crimes between 2013 and 2018.
He was acquitted of two counts of forcible rape and one count of forcible digital penetration involving three other alleged victims.
Dark Side of Kaalan Walker
Deputy District Attorney Yasmin Fardghassemi, in her opening statement in March, told the jury that the case involved women who didn’t know each other, and that the single thing that unites these women is the defendant Kaalan Walker. “You are going to see a dark side of him,” she said. “When they said ‘Stop’, he didn’t care.
Kehlani Ashley Parrish, an American singer who dated the Kings actor briefly, stands in solidarity with Walker’s victims. In a 2021 Instagram post, she said “I am standing with the victims of a serial RAPIST who I know personally to be aggressive, dangerous and twisted. This man is going to jail for the rest of his life, guilty as hell.”
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However, defense lawyer Andrew Flier said Walker has been portrayed as a monster, and that he was innocent of all charges. He told the jury that they (victims) are going to lie because they know they fell for his B.S. Flier said the alleged victim were out for revenge. “The pattern of Walker is to make false promises, and they bought it. Each one of these women voluntarily made their own decisions. He didn’t force them. It’s pay-back to Walker and we are not going to let that happen.”
The defense lawyer also described Walker’s sentence as draconian and called the trial very unfair.
