Tate case transcripts: violence and emotional blackmail against a 15-year-old girl
Andrew and Tristan Tate have been committed for trial by DIICOT for human trafficking of minors, with accusations including the sexual exploitation of a girl recruited at the age of 15.
Tate case transcripts: how Andrew recruited a 15-year-old minor using the "loverboy" method
Gândul publishes extracts from the case file that reached Bucharest Court, which documents how Andrew Tate recruited and sexually exploited a Ukrainian minor, recruited from Slovakia at the age of 15.
British brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate were referred to justice at the end of August by DIICOT investigators for human trafficking of minors, money laundering on a continuous basis, sexual acts with a minor on a continuous basis and tampering with witness testimony — and complicity in the same acts, in the case of Tristan.
Warning: the following details may cause emotional distress.
Recruitment through false promises, beginning from 2012
According to the indictment, Andrew Tate — aged 39 at the time the charges were filed — recruited the victim by taking advantage of her obvious state of vulnerability and deceiving her regarding his intention to establish an authentic romantic relationship. The girl, a minor aged 15 at the time of recruitment, was subsequently housed in a property in the city of Luton, Britain, for the purpose of sexual exploitation.
According to investigators, the facts span from 2012 until December 2021, the date established on the basis of the last transaction identified in the case file.
Emotional blackmail and constant control
DIICOT investigators describe in the case file the mechanism by which Tate maintained control over the victim: threats of abandonment or being "replaced" by another girl, constant surveillance and physical violence. The minor was thus forced to engage in webcam chat activities on multiple platforms, for the material benefit of the defendant.
The accusations are based on hundreds of extracts from chat-type conversations and video and telephone recordings received from British authorities, corroborated with evidence collected locally in Romania.
Messages from the case file: "If you even go home for one day, you will be replaced"
Investigators cross-referenced data from two conversations with data from financial transactions to establish the time period in which the two brothers had contact with the minor victim. One of the key discussions is dated 31 December 2014:
"TATE III Emory Andrew: 'I have been with you for two years, I live with you full-time, do you think I don't love you?'"
In the same period, the minor wrote to Tate:
"'I love you with all my cold Ukrainian heart, I will never love anyone more than you. I hope you really know that' — 31/12/2014"
However, note DIICOT investigators, Andrew Tate's declarations of love were false: in the same period, he maintained several parallel relationships and actively recruited other victims using the same "loverboy" method. The victim had become aware of the situation:
"'Why did you start a relationship then, what was the point? Do you know how many nights I spent crying when you had s*x with another girl?' — 02/01/2015"
The conditioning of the relationship on "performance" in front of the webcam is explicitly documented in the transcripts:
"TATE III Emory Andrew 05/01/2015: 'Then we have a problem: from a legal perspective, you are not old enough to do that.'"
— message sent after the victim's account on the AdultWork platform had been created on 4 November 2014, when the girl was 17 years and one month old.
The threats of replacement recur in several instances:
"TATE III Emory Andrew: 'If you even go home for one day, you will be replaced'"
and
"'That's fine, if you continue like this, we don't have problems and we don't need another girl' — 03/01/2015"
The victim responded by confirming her submission:
"'Okay 🙂 I'm glad I made you happy'"
Subsequently, the same minor described her own living conditions:
"'I accepted the fact that you want to bring a girl here that I hated the most for money. I did everything since then to make you happy, but you can't lock me in the house and get angry when I try to have fun or have a day off, I'm not a prisoner or a slave' — 07/05/2015"
Tate's response:
"'If you mess it up again, Melissa does MFC here and I find another girl for my second girlfriend. I will never come to Kosice again' — 07/05/2015"
Material promises used as an instrument of manipulation
Along with threats, investigators identify in the transcripts financial promises used systematically to keep the victim dependent:
"TATE III Emory Andrew: 'When the debts disappear, we will have so much money we can do ANYTHING. Any holiday, any clothes, any car' — 31/12/2014"
The case file, before Bucharest Court
The case file reached Bucharest Court after DIICOT completed the criminal investigation. The evidence includes hundreds of extracts from conversations and recordings obtained, including from British authorities. Investigators conclude that the entire mechanism of recruitment and exploitation was carried out in an organised manner, with the involvement of both Tate brothers.
Source: Gândul