British YouTuber and rapper Yung Filly admits to reckless driving in Australia while awaiting trial

By The Associated Press on December 19, 2024.

PERTH, Australia (AP) – A British YouTuber and rapper known as Yung Filly admitted in an Australian court on Thursday to reckless driving while he was awaiting trial on charges of raping a woman three months ago.

The 29-year-old, whose real name is Andres Felipe Valencia Barrientos, appeared briefly in the Perth Magistrates Court charged with speeding at 158 kilometers (98 miles) per hour in a 100 kph (62 mph) zone in the Western Australia state capital last month. Speeding becomes reckless driving at 45 kph (28 mph) above the speed limit.

His lawyer Joanne Oliver told the court he would plead guilty to a reckless driving charge at his next court appearance on Jan. 30.

Barrientos faces potential penalties of 9 months in prison, a 6,000 Australian dollar ($3,750) fine and a disqualification from driving for at least six months.

Dressed in a white T-shirt and jeans, Barrientos did not speak to news media as he walked from the court to a waiting van.

Barrientos first appeared in the same court in October when he was charged with raping and choking a woman in a hotel room after a performance during a national tour.

The Colombia-born entertainer, who has 1.8 million followers on YouTube, had been arrested in the east coast city of Brisbane and extradited across the country.

He is accused of assaulting a woman in her 20s in a hotel room on Sept. 28 after he had performed in a Perth nightclub at the outset of the Australian tour that included Melbourne and Sydney before it was to end in Brisbane. He was arrested before the Brisbane performance.

He is charged with four counts of rape, three counts of assault causing bodily harm and one count of impeding the woman’s normal breathing or circulation by applying pressure to her neck.

His bail conditions include that he does not leave Western Australia.

Barrientos started his YouTube career in 2013 and music career in 2017. He has also hosted or appeared in several television programs.

He won a MOBO Award, an annual British music award presentation honoring achievements in “music of Black origin,” in the Best Media Personality category in 2021.