Trial against influencer "Travis" No statement, but tears in court: "I'm not a rapist"

Zurich influencer "Travis The Creator" was on trial today for multiple rapes and sexual assault. He refuses to testify, but maintains his innocence. The verdict will be opened on Friday.

Keystone-SDA

01.12.2025, 22:09

SDA

The 30-year-old influencer "Travis the Creator" tearfully proclaimed his innocence in Zurich District Court on Monday. He is not a rapist. The prosecutor doesn't believe a word he says.

"He is not a child of sadness, but he is not a rapist," said the lawyer for the 30-year-old influencer from Ghana in her plea. What he had done, however: Exploited the naivety of women by promising them to make it big in the fashion and music business.

To "loosen up" the women, he used the slogan "Don't be shy". He also printed it on T-shirts and later even launched a party series with this name.

Five cases of rape

For the defense, the criminal proceedings against "Travis" are not a "me-too case", but a hunt. The rape charges were only filed after an alleged victim posted a video on Instagram.

Of the original seven cases, two have already been dropped because the victims' statements turned out to be untrue. There had also been charges against him at his current place of residence in Spain, but these had also been dropped.

Now he has to stand trialZurich influencer allegedly raped several women

On Monday, five cases of rape were finally heard in Zurich. The defence demanded an acquittal for the party organizer, simply because the offences occurred before 2024, i.e. before the introduction of the new sexual criminal law. Until then, the offense of rape required explicit resistance on the part of the victim. They had to physically defend themselves.

Simply ignoring a "no", as "Travis" is accused of doing, was previously not enough for a conviction. It is therefore unclear what the verdict will be on Friday.

"Travis the Creator" did not want to make any statements on Monday. In his closing statement, however, he tearfully affirmed that he was not a rapist. He was sorry for all the women who had experienced sex with him in this way and had suffered for years.

Twelve years expulsion from the country

For the public prosecutor, however, the 30-year-old is clearly a rapist: she charged the influencer, who has a criminal record for defilement, with multiple counts of rape and multiple counts of sexual assault. He is to spend six years in prison for this.

Because rape and sexual assault are so-called "catalog offenses", he will then be deported from Switzerland for twelve years.

In her plea, the prosecutor said that "Travis" had deceived women into believing that he was promoting their careers in the fashion, modeling and music business. He had won their trust with his wit and charm. However, he was only ever concerned with his own needs.

Taken by surprise at the photo shoot

According to the indictment, the assaults were similar: he met the women for photo shoots and then took them by surprise. The women had to pose - allegedly for the photos - lightly clothed on all fours. "He exposed himself unnoticed and overpowered them."

After the rapes, he acted as if "nothing had happened". He listened to music with his victims or looked at photos with them. "This made it difficult for the women to realize that something wrong had happened to them," said the public prosecutor. Of course, he did not put the women in touch with "people from the industry".

According to the public prosecutor, there was no reason why the women should present consensual sex as rape in retrospect and face incriminating criminal proceedings. According to their lawyers, the women are still suffering today.