Zara Phythianknown for having played Brunette Zealot in the film Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme, and her husband, Victor Marke, were found guilty of having sex with a 13-year-old girl and, in the case of Marke, also of sexually abusing another minor, 15 years old.
Phythian, 37, was convicted Wednesday at the UK’s Nottingham Crown Court of 14 counts of sexual activity with a girl between 2005 and 2008. The sexual assaults began when the girl was 13 years old. In addition to the same 14 counts, Marke, 59, was convicted of four additional counts of indecent assault on another woman between 2002 and 2003, when he was 15 years old.
As reported by the BBC, a police interview with the first victim was played last month at Nottingham Crown Court in the UK. “I was aware that what was happening was wrong, but I didn’t know how to get out of the situation and I couldn’t say anything”, explained the woman. In addition, she said that she was a fan of Phythian and that she met the couple while they were working as martial arts instructors in Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom.
In her plea, the young woman pointed out that in one of the meetings she was offered to drink alcohol and then Phythian, who was 19 years old at the time, began to perform oral sex on Marke and challenged her to imitate her. “I remember trying to copy Zara’s reaction at that time because I admired her and tried to be like her,” said the woman, who assured that, in that first meeting, the accused ended up having sexual relations with both her and the actress.
As she said, the man assured her that no one would believe her if she decided to tell what was happening between them and threatened to break her kneecaps if she decided to break the silence. “They always had power over me”, he stated in his plea. In addition, he indicated that when the abuse began, Marke was married to another woman, but that marriage ended because of the affair that the instructor maintained with Phythian, who had not yet turned 20 years old.
The woman also told the court that Phythian “trained” her to become better at sexual activity and that she estimated she had sex with Marke about 20 times. “At that time, I would not have been able to make a report. She would have embarrassed me to death,” she explained. “I think they saw a vulnerability in me and took advantage of that,” the young woman said. And she added: “That was just my deepest, darkest secret. I figured if I told anyone, my family would hate me.”.
“When I was finally able to do it, I had just become a mother and I had no other option than to tell my truth so as not to allow it to happen to anyone else,” she explained, about the reasons that finally led her to report the facts.
Marke also faced four more charges, filed by another woman who claims he abused her between 2002 and 2003. In this case, the abuse began when the victim was 15 years old. This other victim reported to the police that Marke, who was many years older than her, “groomed and touched her sexually.” According to her testimony, it all started with improper touching and kisses on her face, but when she turned 16 they began to have sexual relations. “She had never done anything like this,” she explained in her complaint.
“I want to thank the two victims who have shown great courage in coming forward and speaking out about their ordeal,” Investigating Officer Parminder Dhillon said after the verdict, as reported by the Nottingham Post. “While no amount of punishment handed down by a court of law can undo the lifelong damage done to you, I hope you take some comfort in knowing that justice has now been served.”, he added.
“I hope that this case will serve as a reminder to others that we treat all allegations of sexual abuse with the utmost seriousness and that, even in cases where the crimes occurred many years ago, we will thoroughly investigate and do whatever is necessary. in our power to bring the perpetrators to justice.”