A hip-hop artist and social media influencer who has amassed a six-figure follower base on social media has been charged with rape and intent to commit rape, prosecutors said Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said Clinton Adams, 32, who it said goes by \u201cClintnlord” online, took two women to a desolate area created by Los Angeles\u2019 disastrous Palisades Fire in January and sexually assaulted them. He is charged with three felony counts of forcible rape and a felony count of assault with the intent to commit rape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The violence took place on separate occasions in the summer, the DA’s office said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“These women showed courage by coming forward to report their assaults,” District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in a statement Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prosecutors and Los Angeles police detectives working the case believe there may be more victims and have asked any, along with possible witnesses, to reach out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Adams, a resident of Los Angeles’ Northridge community, has pleaded not guilty to all counts and was being held in lieu of nearly $1.5 million bail, according to the DA’s office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A lawyer listed in court documents as his primary counsel did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charges include separate counts of rape in connection with attacks alleged to have taken place on June 29, Aug. 7 and Aug. 8, according to court documents. For each, there is a special allegation of aggravated circumstances, namely that multiple victims were involved, according to the DA’s office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition, he was charged with one count of intent to commit rape in connection with an incident alleged to have happened Aug. 7, according to court documents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The special allegations could add time to a sentence if prosecutors are successful. The DA’s office said the case could result in a 90-year sentence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In its statement, the DA’s office described the location of the alleged crimes as “a vacant area impacted by January wildfires” and said Adams “lured” victims there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Citing a police detective, the news wire City News Service previously reported that the alleged attacks took place at a vacant residence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hochman called the alleged crimes “predatory.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Taking advantage of a historic disaster and causing severe harm to two women is despicable,” he said in Tuesday’s statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Palisades Fire was one of two deadly wildfires \u2014 multiple others were nonfatal \u2014 that broke out amid a windstorm on Jan. 7, leveling historic neighborhoods in Pacific Palisades, a beachside community in the city of Los Angeles, and Altadena, a foothill city about 15 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At least 31 people were killed in the fires in Los Angeles County. Less than a year later, rebuilding is still underway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Though a social media account for Adams states that his last music release was roughly three years ago, he has amassed a sizable fan base on Instagram, where his account showed 376,000 followers, and on TikTok, where his page displayed nearly 155,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Jan. 21 in downtown Los Angeles criminal court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n