Katie Price's ex-husband raped and sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl while he was married to the TV personality, a court has heard.
Kieran Hayler, 39, who denies all of the charges against him, has today gone on trial accused of carrying out three rapes, as well as a separate sex assault, on the youngster at an address in West Sussex between June and October 2016. Price, 48, who was married to the defendant from 2013 until 2021, is due to give evidence in court later this week.
Prosecution opens case
Opening the case, prosecutor Ryan Richter told Lewes Crown Court: "This is a case of rape. The prosecution alleges that Mr Hayler used his personality and charm, firstly to win the friendship and then the trust of a 13-year-old girl. The prosecution says when he had developed that trust, he then used that trust to sexually abuse and rape her.
"It is the prosecution's case that Mr Hayler went on to befriend her and began to seek out spending time with her. The complainant says he began to touch her, seemingly innocently enough at first, touching her hand or brushing past her. But it then progressed to other matters. He would start running his hands up her leg or trying to hug her. He built up, the prosecution says, a bond with her."
Describing the first alleged rape, Mr Richter said: "He sat down and began to speak to her. He told her how he really liked her. He then spoke to her about sex. He described it to her. He told her it was a special thing and told her they should do it. He said to her that they should do it."
Further alleged incidents
The prosecution alleges that sort of activity happened on two further occasions. On the second occasion, she remembers being in bed asleep and woke up to find Mr Hayler was lying on top of her…She said she didn't really know what was happening, but after a few minutes, Mr Hayler stopped and left.
"On a third occasion, she was again asleep when Mr Hayler woke her up. He told her to ‘Shhh’ and then picked her up." It's alleged that Hayler carried her to another room in the house. "He laid her down on a grey rug that was on the floor and again raped her. She remembers it lasting much longer on this occasion."
Mr Richter added: "On the third occasion, she remembers sitting with Mr Hayler on a sofa. He told her, as they sat together, not to tell anyone about what had been happening because he might get into trouble. While they were speaking together, he grabbed her hand." Mr Richter added that Hayler played the victim's hand inside his trousers.
Defendant's denial
Mr Hayler denies these allegations. He denies that anything sexual ever happened and she is simply making the allegations up. He suggests that behind these allegations lies his relationship with his ex-wife Katie Price and he says it is she who has launched, effectively, a campaign against him, of which this is a part.
Mr Richter told the court the complainant first told her mother about the alleged abuse in August 2017 after her mum said she "reacted strangely, became pale, sat back and started to cry." He said: "She told her mother then that ‘something had happened’." When her mother asked ‘What?’, she replied ‘He did things to me’ and ‘he pinned me down’. When she asked her what he had done, she replied to her mum ‘Well, he did everything to me, mum'."
Mr Richter said the complainant contacted children's charity the NSPCC in 2021, when she was aged 18, before later speaking to police. On January 26, 2022, Mr Hayler was interviewed about the allegations and denied that any of them took place. He said that nothing sexual had ever occurred.
Trial details
Hayler, a former reality TV star, was seen wearing a dark blue suit and an open-necked pink shirt while watching and listening to today's hearing from the dock inside Court Two at Lewes Crown Court. He was flanked by a single female security officer.
His trial is expected to last seven days before the jury retire to consider their verdicts next week. The group of five men and seven women were formally sworn in on Monday morning before the trial began shortly after 2pm on Monday afternoon.
The jury was shown today part of a recorded police interview, the alleged victim gave detailing her claims at a police station in December 2021. She was seen wiping away tears as she made the allegations against Hayler, which included her claiming he knew her age. She claimed that during a conversation about her year of birth, he had once remarked: "Oh, you're a baby, aren't you?" She added: "Compared to him. He said he was old compared to me."
The complainant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is expected to give evidence from behind a screen in court on Tuesday. She is not a member of Hayler or Price's extended family. The trial continues.
