Disgraced comedian Russell Brand donated £3,000 to a rape crisis charity in 2010, just one year after he raped a 21-year-old woman. The South Essex Rape and Incest Crisis Centre (SERICC) confirmed the money was given for their 25th anniversary party that year.
Earlier this month, Brand was convicted of raping the woman in 2009. He has since been jailed for 10 years and six months for the rape and three further sexual assaults. The charity, based in Grays, Essex, said the donation came from his management team and they had no direct contact with Brand.
Charity Founder Responds
SERICC founder Sheila Coates said: "He supported four or five local charities in the area he was from, but this is really about his abuse of power, the other part of the Russell Brand personality."
Coates added: "There is something about celebrity, money, power, control. When you get fame and money, some men abuse that position and that's what he's done. We've seen this so many times with famous men, it's not a shock it's disappointment and it goes on and on and on, that's the disappointment, not really the shock because we've seen this with others."
She continued: "We still need to do some work around the myths and facts around sexual assault, all judges are supposed to do that, but I don't think all of them do, so we've got to make sure that happens so that justice is fair and victims are not blamed for their own assault."
Conviction and Sentencing
Brand denied any wrongdoing during the four-week trial at Southwark Crown Court. The 51-year-old was sentenced by Mr Justice Bennathan after being found guilty last Thursday, November 5, of raping a woman in 2009 and sexually assaulting three female TV and radio workers between 2004 and 2009.
His wife Laura Gallacher was in court when Brand was sentenced. He mouthed "we'll be OK" to her when he was taken away by court officers. They have three children together.
As he shared his sentencing decision, the judge said: "You were clever - and in many people's eyes, funny and charismatic," before describing Brand as a "sexual predator" who told a "series of lies" and exhibited "staggering arrogance".
He continued: "Your status protected you until 2023, when journalists collected and published the allegations that were broadcast as a Channel 4 documentary and in articles in The Times newspaper. Those public declarations that you were a sex offender empowered a number of women to come forward and tell their stories of your activities many years before. I now have to sentence you for the crimes you committed against four women between 2004 and 2009."
He said that, during the trial, Brand insisted he had "never touched a woman without her consent". That was one of a "series of lies you told", the judge declared.
