Andrew Tate, a controversial influencer who has been charged with rape, human trafficking and forming a gang to sexually exploit women, has been released from months-long house arrest on Friday as he awaits trial on his charges.
Tate must stay in Romania where the charges were filed and he is not allowed to be “in close proximity” with other defendants, witnesses, victims or their family members, officials said, according to The Associated Press.
If he breaks the rules that have been set he can go back on house arrest or be put on preventive arrest.
He is under judicial control for the next 60 days, CNN reported.
Tate, his brother and two Romanian women were indicted in June, months after they had been arrested late last year.
Seven women claim they were lured with lies claiming that they were loved and were instead taken to Romania where the gang had sexually exploited them and caused physical violence against them. One woman said she was raped twice. They all said they were controlled by “intimidation, constant surveillance,” the AP reported.
The 30-year-old internet personality spoke to the media after news of his release, saying, “We’ve been completely innocent since the beginning of this.”
“In January when I was thrown in a jail cell, the media reported and told the world I was a terrible person, they said that I hurt people and that I make a lot of money from criminal enterprises,” he added, according to the AP, “and here we stand seven or eights month later and I’ve not seen a single victim on the news.”
Tate and his brother appealed the court’s decision to keep them confined to their Romanian home after appealing in March to be moved to house arrest from being jailed for three months.
The country’s anti-organized crime agency had asked the courts to extend the brothers’ house arrest.
Tate has 7.5 million followers on Twitter, now called X, and uses the platform to spout conspiracy theories. He says that prosecutors have no evidence against him and that the charges are a political conspiracy to keep him quiet, the AP reported.
The former kickboxer also had 11.6 billion TikTok views of videos where he spoke about male dominance, female submission and wealth, CNN reported.
His influence on teen boys was so concerning that he has been the subject of discussion in parliament.
