Police bid to contact woman in sex assault claim against Nelly

Police will attempt to contact a woman mentioned in a US lawsuit alleging the rapper Nelly sexually assaulted her after a gig in the UK.

Essex Police said they would try to obtain a report from the unnamed woman by contacting the Seattle-based lawyer bringing the claim after officers were alerted by US media reports.

The allegation, that a woman was sexually assaulted by the rapper after a gig at Cliffs Pavilion in Southend last December, is included in the claim of an American woman who alleges the rapper raped her on his tour bus.

An Essex Police spokesman said: "We have checked our records and don't appear to have received a report of this incident.

"Specially trained officers are now making contact with the solicitors in a bid to contact the victim to take a report."

Nelly, real name Cornell Iral Haynes Jr, denies the allegations and has filed a counter-suit, while his lawyer Scott Rosenblum said the claim was "deceitful" and "motivated by money".

University student Monique Greene, 22, is suing the 43-year-old in Washington, USA, after prosecutors dropped a criminal case against him because she would not testify.

In court documents obtained by the Associated Press, the lawsuit also says a third woman alleges she was sexually assaulted after a show at Koko, in Camden, north London, in June 2016.

The student's lawyer Karen Koehler said that the two women contacted her after reading about her client's case.

One of the women is British and another is an American who was stationed in England with the military at the time.

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