Former Ex On The Beach star James Moore has been cleared of repeatedly attacking and raping a teenager.
The 32-year-old reality star, who appeared in series four of the show, was also found not guilty of a coercive control charge concerning the use of CCTV cameras to ‘keep an eye’ on the teen following a trial at Preston Crown Court.
The prosecution had claimed he’d raped her on ‘no less than 10 occasions’ and attacked her three times.
Moore, of Blackpool, was accused of punching the teenager in the face, breaking her nose, before dragging her and catching her leg in a doorway, and pushing her so her head hit the floor.
He was also accused of engaging in ‘controlling and coercive’ behaviour and causing her to fear that violence would be used against her. But a jury cleared him of all charges.
James Moore (seen here in his appearance on Ex On The Beach in 2016) has been cleared of raping and attacking a teenager
Moore had been accused of a series of offences against the teen between June 2019 and May 2021 – but a jury has cleared him of all charges
The court heard the alleged offences took place between June 2019 and May 2021.
Jurors were shown several videos, secretly recorded by the alleged victim, of her and Moore rowing when he had sworn and shouted at her and she could be heard screaming and crying in the background.
In one, Moore said he’d got hold of her arm because he was ‘trying to get her out of the house’.
Another video showed him holding a hammer over the woman’s car which he claimed he’d sent because he was ‘trying to get a response out of her’.
But he denied ever being violent towards the girl or attacking her.
Asked by Siobhan Grey QC, defending, how he felt listening to the videos, he said: ‘It was a difficult time for me. I didn’t want her there, I didn’t want to speak to her.
‘But it’s not nice hearing me speak like that, but it wasn’t a nice situation.’
John Dickinson, prosecuting, asked Moore if he’d told ‘lies’ during the trial.
‘Every single thing I’ve said in this box is 100 per cent the truth,’ he replied.
He asked Moore about an incident when he allegedly ‘gratuitously’ punched the teenager in the face, breaking her nose, but Moore said it ‘never happened’.
He said: ‘I’ve never been physically violent towards her. The only times I’ve put my hands on her was to restrain her or to get her out of the house.’
Mr Dickinson put it to Moore that he’d raped the girl on a weekly basis, which he denied.
He also denied ‘controlling’ the girl, after he was accused of stopping her using make-up, isolating her from her parents, and installing cameras to ‘keep an eye’ on her.
Moore was cleared by a jury of all charges following a trial at Preston Crown Court (pictured)
Moore told the jury that he’d struggled with cocaine addiction but no longer touched alcohol or drugs after undergoing rehab treatment and he was now ‘a completely different person’.
He said he’d not been able to ‘trust’ the teenager and he believed he’d suffered emotional and mental abuse from her – leaving him feeling like a ‘prisoner’.
Moore will now face a further trial, in July, accused of three counts of possessing indecent images of a child and one count of distributing an indecent image of a child, which he denies.
He appeared on the fourth series of MTV’s Ex on the Beach in 2016, which was filmed in Portugal.
The show sees contestants beginning new relationships before they are interrupted by their ex-partners.
However, it was mired in controversy in 2019 when the tenth series of the show was cancelled following the suicide of cast member Mike Thalassitis, 26.
Thalassitis, who had also appeared on Love Island, was found hanged in a park in Enfield, North London, with cocaine and alcohol found in his system.
Since then, the show has aired in a celebrity-only format, and Thalassitis’ death prompted bosses on other romance reality shows to overhaul the aftercare they give to contestants, helping them with everything from social media to mental health.