Olympic swimmer accused of rapes 'arranged for girl to have sex with two strangers', jury told

Antony James is accused of coercing and manipulating his victims to act out his sexual fantasies

A jury continued to hear of the charges against an Olympic swimmer, including that he twice arranged for one of his alleged victims to have sex with strangers he found online.

Prosecutor Lee Bremridge opened the case against 34-year-old Antony James of Crownhill on Tuesday afternoon at Plymouth Crown Court noting the numerous charges the former Olympian faces.

The incidents are reported to have taken place between 2012 and 2022. They are:

• four counts of sexual activity with a child
• eight counts of rape involving two of the alleged victims
• controlling or coercive behaviour
• two counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity
• two counts of causing a child to watch a sexual act
• three counts of intentionally encouraging or assisting the commission of an offence

Under the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1992 any person who makes an allegation of a relevant offence - such as rape, sexual assault, sexual activity with a child - is entitled to anonymity during their lifetime. In effect this means that nothing can be written of a court hearing which risks identifying the alleged victim or victims. As such PlymouthLive will not be reporting some details told to the jury to avoid any risk of the victims being identified.

To assist with reporting the case without identifying the alleged victims, PlymouthLive will describe the first young complainant as Ms X, the second complainant as Ms Y and the other young complainant as Ms Z.

Continuing his opening, Mr Bremridge told the jury on Wednesday [September 18] of the similarities between two of the younger victims [Ms X and Z] in how James had effectively groomed and manipulated their feelings and emotions to ensure they did what he wanted them to do.

The jury heard his phone was examined by police. Investigators discovered that at a time when while he was at Devon and Cornwall Police's headquarters training to be a police officer he sent a message to Ms Z - whose photos had been found on his phone - asking "tell me, do you like big c****?"

When later confronted about the photos he later claimed he thought she was 17 but Mr Bremridge said it was clear James was in possession of key information which meant he knew "full well" the girl had turned 16 that year and that he had known her some years before.

Mr Bremridge told the court James had made attempts to get his first alleged victim, Ms X, to have sex with him and another man who was described as "one of his best friends". Ms Y told police James had pressured her "a lot" that he wanted her to have sex with him and another man.

The jury were told that Ms Z - whom he is alleged to have raped a number of times - was made to create an online Tinder account stating she was 20 despite only being 16. The court heard James told her what to write and what pictures to use - including revealing shots.

She told police he demanded she screen record herself scrolling through the replies to prove she was checking responses and responding to the men. She told police she "felt completely trapped". The court heard he arranged for her to meet a man in Devonport and to keep a phone line open so that he could hear her have sex with the man.

The 16-year-old Ms Z arrived to find a 23-year-old man "bigger" than James but who was intoxicated and unable to get an erection, so she was told to perform oral sex on him instead while filming it using the man's phone. She told police she feared James' reaction, claiming he would be "so annoyed" that she had not accomplished the task he had set.

The court was told he signed her up to another sexually-orientated website. He gave Ms Z a false name, claiming she was his girlfriend aged around 20, while he himself used the false name of Mike.

Mr Bremridge said that sometime in early 2022, following responses on the website, James booked an Airbnb in Exeter and arranged for two men who had replied to the website post to separately arrive at the property, to have sex with Ms Z.

However, the court heard James sent a message to the Airbnb owner writing "Looking forward to a relaxing evening in your beautiful home. I will arriving with my partner hopefully between 4pm and 5pm".

While he drove to the property the girl was made to go by train. She told police she was under the impression the Airbnb was to be just for James and her.

Mr Bremridge told the jury the first man arrived and Ms Z was made to have sex with the man while at the same time, James made the girl perform oral sex on him, which the Crown said was one of the counts of rape.

A second man later arrived and the girl was again made to have sex with the man while James made her to perform oral sex on him, which the Crown said was another of the counts of rape.

The jury were told that James filmed these alleged assaults. The girl - then just 16 - told police: "He [James] told the first guy to get onto the bed and have sex with me and he did. I was looking over to him [James] whilst it was happening and he was recording it and he wasn't even looking at me and I just wanted it to stop and then he came over and started joining in and I was just trying to let him know I didn't want to do it."

The jury heard the girl told police that when the second man arrived it was "straight into it... this guy sat on the sofa and AJ told me to get on all fours in front of this guy. I had no clothes on. He told the guy to stand up and made me perform oral on this other guy and he started to record it again."

Mr Bremridge said when James was arrested and interviewed in 2022 he was asked about the Airbnb and he claimed he booked it to get away from pressures he was under and was "looking forward to spending time alone with his thoughts" and that the 16-year-old Ms Z had unexpectedly arrived and then the two men did. He claimed the girl had arranged it and it was a surprise to him. He claimed the two men "did not even introduce themselves".

The jury were told police later found the recordings of the sexual acts at the Airbnb on his mobile phone. They also discovered that just a week after the incident at the Airbnb James was sending messages to one of the two men who attended that night who was named in court. The jury heard how James asked the man "anything about [the girl] that turns you on the most?"

Mr Bremridge said the man was not aware Ms Z was still only 16 and not 20. He told the jury James sent the man photos and videos he made on that night. Mr Bremridge told the jury James' claims to police were not reality and that he had "orchestrated" everything that night because "he wanted [the girl] to have sex with other men for his own sexual gratification".

Mr Bremridge said there was evidence "in this case that [the girl Ms Z] was under 16 years old when Antony James developed a sexual attraction to her", citing the Chaturbate comments in 2019 and that he had set about grooming the girl in the weeks, months and years after. He said this involved James "controlling and manipulating her feelings so that she would ultimately do what he wanted her to do".

The jury also heard of an allegation of rape where Ms Z had gone to James home while aged 16 and he had tied her up. After he untied her he then had sex with her.

At the end of her interview with police she said: "He [James] made me feel like it was something that people did and obviously then the amount of men that I found on these websites and Tinder who did these things I did feel like it was normal and I did feel like by being freaked out by it I was being childish."

After his arrest in January 2022, James was asked by police about each of the females and their allegations.

Of the first young girl Ms X, he claimed he thought she was 17 years old, not 16 and insisted the sex was entirely consensual. Of the allegations by the woman Ms Y about controlling behaviour he said she was the dominant person and he had never hit her or attempted to strangle her during sex. He claimed she came up with the idea of dressing up like a schoolgirl and had decided to call him "daddy" during sex.

Asked about the last girl, Ms Z, he said they were nothing more than friends. He claimed he believed the girl was at least 16 and everything they did was with consent.

However, when investigators asked the student police officer as to why there were so many indecent photos and videos found on his phone and memory stick at his house, he answered 'no comment'.

Joe Stone KC, representing Mr James, said his client had "at all times" believed the three claimants in the case were "fully consenting" to all of the sexual acts alleged. He said the defence case was that each of the alleged victims they would hear from were "perfectly happy to do the sexual acts alleged".

He said: "No one, not a single one of these three young women, was ever forced to do anything they did not want to do" adding that they had "free will" throughout. He told the jury "They did what they wanted to do and at no stage were they forced or coerced."

James has pleaded not guilty to all 20 counts he faces.

The trial continues.

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