Kieran Hayler is charged with three counts of rape and one count of sexual assault of the teenage girl
Kieran Hayler is charged with three counts of rape and one count of sexual assault against the teenage girl.
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Alamy
Katie Price’s ex-husband texted a 13-year-old girl saying “I love you” after allegedly raping her for the third time, a court has heard.
Kieran Hayler, 39, is on trial at Lewes Crown Court accused of three counts of rape and one count of sexual assault of the teenage girl in 2016.
The 39-year-old was married to Katie Price at the time of the alleged assaults.
The alleged victim is not part of Hayler or Ms Price’s extended families.
Giving evidence to jurors on Tuesday, the victim, now an adult, told the court that Hayler texted her after the third alleged rape saying “I love you goodnight”.
Read more: Katie Price’s rape accused ex-husband told 13-year-old ‘not to tell’, jury hears
Read more: Katie Price’s husband Lee Andrews speaks out after being ‘missing for weeks’ saying she saved him
Katie Price and Kieran Hayler divorced in 2021.
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Alamy
She replied: “I love you too.”
Footage of the complainant’s police interview showed her telling officers that when the alleged offences started, it “didn’t really” change the way she looked at Hayler.
“He was still acting the same way he was before, I felt I had to do the same,” she said.
The woman told police she had four showers a day at that time, adding: “I remember a phase changing my underwear three times a day.”
She said: “I remember thinking, ‘he’s a lot older than me, is this something you should be doing?’, on a few occasions crying, thinking, ‘what’s going on, is this supposed to be happening?’.”
Katie Price.
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Alamy
The woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, told officers that Hayler had also called her and said: “You promise you won’t tell anyone? What we had was special, you better take it to the grave.”
She added she was not “frightened” of him but felt it “would not end well for me, so I didn’t want to say anything” because she felt he would probably say she was lying or making her claims up.
Asked why she decided to come forward to police when she did, the woman replied: “Because I don’t want to go down the line in 20 years’ time and find out he’s done it to more than just me.”
She recalled seeing something on the news about Hayler being lovely and said: “I got this rage inside.”
Lewes Crown Court.
Picture:
Alamy
“He’s ruined my relationships with other people, he’s ruined sex for me. I was so angry,” the woman said.
“I got on my phone and started emailing the NSPCC.”
Jurors were shown her police interview, in which the complainant told officers she had received a message of support from Ms Price, which said: “I know you’re going through a tough time, I support you through everything.”
During her police interview, the woman emotionally described how she had told her mother when she was about 13 or 14, but added: “I think I lied to her” by not revealing the extent of what had allegedly happened.
“I didn’t want her to think I was disgusting, or disappointed in me for what had happened, because I thought it was my fault for ages.”
Hayler was married to media personality Ms Price at the time of the allegations but their relationship broke down in 2018 and they divorced in 2021.
He denies the charges and suggests his ex-wife had “launched a campaign” against him when their marriage ended, and the allegations form part of this, the court has heard.
In cross-examination on Tuesday, it was suggested to the woman by defence counsel Arlette Piercy that there was “not much detail” on the allegations of the first rape because “you make it up”, but she replied: “No, I was 13.”
Of the second alleged occasion, Ms Piercy suggested “nothing like that happened”, to which the woman said: “It did.”
The trial continues.