Lawyer seeking criminal investigation against T.I. and wife Tiny following sexual abuse allegations

Lawyer Tyrone A. Blackburn has contacted multiple state and federal prosecutors on behalf of multiple alleged victims

Content warning: the following story contains descriptions of sexual assault.

A lawyer representing 11 alleged sexual assault victims of rapper T.I., his wife or members of their entourage, has been approaching law enforcement authorities seeking a criminal investigation.

The rapper – real name Clifford Harris – and Tameka “Tiny” Harris were the subject of allegations in January made by a former friend, Sabrina Peterson. Peterson had shared excerpts from conversations between herself and more than a dozen women on Instagram, which claimed that women visitors were required to consume illicit drugs before entering T.I. and Tiny’s home. Others alleged sexual abuse and coercion.

As the New York Times reports, four women have accused the pair of drugging and sexually assaulting them, including two instances of rape that took place in Georgia and California. Lawyer Tyrone A. Blackburn has now sent letters to state and federal prosecutors in those states, as well as their attorneys-general.

As they did in January, T.I. and Harris have denied all allegations, which the pair’s lawyer described to the Times as “baseless and unjustified”.

The alleged incidents took place between 2005 and either 2017 or 2018. While none of the women knew each other, many described “sexual abuse, forced ingestion of illegal narcotics, kidnapping, terroristic threats and false imprisonment”. Instances of nonsexual intimidation, assault and harassment are also mentioned in Blackburn’s letter.

Many of the women expressed interest in pursuing criminal charges, but they are close to the statute of limitations in some cases.

According to the Times, the accusers include a military veteran, an exotic dancer, a friend-turned-assistant and a teenage intern at T.I.’s label, Grand Hustle.

In an interview, the veteran told the Times that T.I. brought her and a friend into the VIP section of a club. After being offered a sip of a drink by Tiny, as well as buying their own drink, the two women were woozy and vomiting. Once incapacitated, the veteran was allegedly taken to a hotel room by T.I. and Tiny where she was raped.

T.I. and Tiny’s lawyer Steve Sadow told the Times that the pair “deny in the strongest possible terms these baseless and unjustified allegations”.

“We fully expect that if these claims are thoroughly and fairly investigated, no charges will be forthcoming,” Sadow said. “These allegations are nothing more than the continuation of a sordid shakedown campaign that began on social media and now attempts to manipulate the press and misuse the justice system.”

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