After rape charges against The Breakfast Club host Charlamagne tha God from 17 years ago resurfaced this week, South Carolina Ninth Circuit Solicitor Scarlett A. Wilson issued a statement on Thursday confirming the state will not reopen the case, Billboard reports.
The charges stem from 2001, when Charlamagne, 22, was charged with the rape of 15-year-old Jessica Reid. After about a year, Reid stopped cooperation with prosecutors and the case was dropped. Charlamagne took a plea deal in which he pled guilty to the less serious charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and was sentenced to three years of probation. Reid, now 32, gave an interview this week expressing her desire to reopen the case in an attempt to find “closure.” She allegedly stopped cooperating in 2002 only after her mother encouraged her to.
Although South Carolina does not have a statute of limitations on criminal prosecution, Wilson argues that because Charlamagne took a plea deal, per the law, the court is “duty bond to honor the agreement" and presume him “innocent of the dismissed allegation."
"The plea was negotiated because the alleged victim in the matter did not cooperate with the prosecutor," said Wilson in a statement, adding that there was an issue of lack of evidence as well. "While the tools and technology of justice have evolved, in cases involving personal violence, the State must have the witness to prosecute. Too often, the key witness will not come forward in support of criminal prosecution. Trying a tough case is no problem; trying an impossible case is not ethical."
The radio host has publicly discussed the rape charges against him before. In an interview with DJ Akademiks from 2013, he explained that the alleged rape had taken place during a graduation party he had thrown for a cousin. As a result, he was interviewed by police, and when they did not find any other suspects, they pinned the rape on him. According to him, DNA tests done at the time did not match.
