Rapper Yung Filly to return to Britain before Australian rape trial next year

PERTH, Australia (AP) — British social media celebrity and rapper Yung Filly can return to Britain before he stands trial in Australia next year on charges of raping a fan, a judge ruled on Thursday. The 31-year-old Columbian-born entertainer, whose real name is Andres Felipe Valencia Barrientos, was convicted by a District Court of Western Australia jury last month of assaulting a woman in a Perth hotel room in September 2024. The jury acquitted him on three counts of raping her.

But prosecutors said last week they would retry him on another three rape charges on which jurors could not agree. Barrientos returned Thursday to the court, where Judge Linda Black agreed to change his bail conditions so he can return to London while he waits for his second trial. Black said although the retrial would be expedited and likely happen in 2027, there could be a delay.

“It seems to me it is appropriate to return to his home country until he is needed for his retrial,” Black said. The revised bail conditions include that Barrientos return to Britain by Aug. 31 and stay there until he flies back to Perth for the trial.

He will be required to return to Australia 10 days before his retrial and must surrender his passport within 24 hours of returning. Barrientos is not allowed to contact the alleged victim or a key prosecution witness, who both cannot be named. Barrientos also cannot publicly comment on the case in any way.

He will be sentenced on his two convictions for assault occasioning bodily harm after the second jury reach their verdicts on the outstanding rape charges. The assault convictions each carry a potential maximum sentence of five years in prison. Rape convictions would each carry a potential maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.

Barrientos was touring Australia and had already performed in Sydney and Melbourne before he encountered his alleged victim in Perth. Prosecutors alleged the woman initially agreed to have sex but withdrew her consent because she feared for her safety. He was arrested several days later in the east coast city of Brisbane, where the tour was to end.