Sport agent Jonathan Barnett accused of rape in US lawsuit

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Adam Fradgley – AMA/West Bromwich Albion FC via Getty Images Barnett denies the woman’s allegations that he kept her as a “sex slave”

High-profile British sports agent Jonathan Barnett has been accused of raping a woman more than 39 times, in a US lawsuit. In a civil complaint lodged at a US district court in Los Angeles, the unnamed woman, referred to as “Jane Doe”, says Mr Barnett “trafficked” her from Australia to the UK in 2017, “tortured” and kept her as a “sex slave” over a six year period. She says Mr Barnett made “repeated threats to her life and the lives of her minor children”. The 75-year-old known for representing leading footballers including Gareth Bale and Jack Grealish, says the charges “have no basis in reality and are untrue”.

“We will vigorously defend this lawsuit through the appropriate legal process. I am looking forward to being entirely vindicated and exonerated,” a statement from his lawyers said. Mr Barnett was ranked as the world’s most powerful sports agent in 2019 by Forbes magazine. The civil case was filed on Wednesday. According to court documents, the pair first met in the 1990s through a professional athlete in London and reconnected online and then in person in 2017. Within a matter of weeks she relocated to the UK with her teenage children – with sports agency CAA Stellar, headed by Mr Barnett, covering moving expenses. The filing says that upon her arrival, he told her he “owned” her and raped her in a hotel room. Mr Barnett went on to impose strict rules to obey him at all times, referring to him as “My Master” and to “never say it hurts”, according to the lawsuit. The complaint goes on to describe alleged degrading acts that included drinking urine or ingesting faeces. The alleged torture also included the woman “tied up overnight without food or water”. She says she was “trafficked, threatened, tortured, and held” in bondage in different locations throughout the world, including Los Angeles, from 2017 to 2023. “Realising she was powerless against a dangerous predator, Ms Doe submitted to Barnett in order to avoid being severely beaten or even killed,” the lawsuit said.