Gloria Trevi is facing a new civil case in Los Angeles that revives accusations that she acquired young females for her ex-producer Sergio Andrade. Trevi was unexpectedly cleared of charges that she lured children into a secret sex ring in Mexico almost 20 years ago.
The new case was submitted before a three-year “lookback” window that temporarily waived the statute of limitations on childhood sex assault claims in California. Trevi and Andrade aren’t named in the action, but it’s evident they’re the top two Doe defendants based on her 1990s shows and albums.
Two Jane Doe plaintiffs claim they were 13 and 15 when Trevi contacted them in public and persuaded them into Andrade’s music training programme by portraying it as a star-making chance. Trevi allegedly trained the victims to become Andrade’s sex slaves in Los Angeles County.
Trevi and Andrade had already achieved worldwide success with a string of singles showing Trevi’s edgy lyrics and rebellious demeanour, the complaint alleges. Andrade was Trevi’s behind-the-scenes production ace. The once-famous couple disappeared before an avalanche of sex cult charges from former protégés. Andrade was presented as a violent serial paedophile, with Trevi as his eager collaborator. After a worldwide search, they were caught in Brazil in January 2000.
Trevi, 54, spent four years in pre-trial imprisonment before being cleared of rape, abduction, and corruption of children accusations. After four years in jail, Andrade was convicted of rape, abduction, and corruption of children but served just one year.
Trevi has never lied. After her 2004 release, she married a lawyer and relocated in Texas. She tours and appears on TV and has 5 million Instagram followers. 2007’s Una Rosa Blue and 2011’s Gloria topped Billboard’s Latin Albums list.
Trevi defended herself at the 2018 Latin Grammys. “I’m innocent. I was 15 with a 12-year-mentality old’s when I met a producer, she added. Andrade “quickly became a fantasy of love and claimed to be my sole option” “At 15, I was subjected to manipulation, beatings, yelling, abuse, and punishment. 17 years of humiliation.”
Despite her public denials, career resurgence, and apparent alienation from Andrade after giving birth to his son in prison, Trevi is now a co-defendant with the disgraced producer over 1980s charges.
“[Trevi and Andrade] utilised their roles, prestige, and authority as a popular Mexican pop artist and a recognised producer to get access to, groom, control, and abuse [the victims] and compel sexual intercourse with them over years,” a new civil case seeking actual and punitive damages says.
The unnamed third defendant worked with Trevi and Andrade as a choreographer, dancer, and assistant. (The lawsuit’s attorneys didn’t reply to a request for comment.) Trevi reps didn’t respond immediately.
Andrade’s whereabouts remained unknown. The once-powerful producer confessed to having intercourse with Karina Yapor, his main accuser, when she was 13, but denied raping or detaining her against her will throughout his trial. Yapor said she was abducted aged 12 and indoctrinated into joining Andrade’s harem, with Trevi, then in her 20s, playing a crucial part. Yapor, 15, had Andrade’s kid in Spain. According to her 2001 book Revelaciones, she abandoned the kid in 1998 at Andrade’s request.
Jane Doe 1 was 15 years old in the summer of 1991 when her mother brought her to an event to see the captivating singer famed across Latin America for her 1989 No. 1 single “Dr. Psiquiatra.”
Jane Doe 1 was dancing and singing to Trevi’s music in Mexico City when he reportedly approached her. Trevi told Jane Doe 1 she was “a very talented dancer and extremely attractive” and asked her to an on-the-spot audition, the complaint says.
Jane Doe 1 and her mother assumed the offer was a residential training programme for adolescent pop fame. The complaint alleges the “idyllic” living arrangement turned sour when Trevi visited the adolescent in a Hotel del Bosque room in late 1991 or early 1992 and stated Andrade was “very furious” about Jane Doe 1’s connection with a male group member.
Trevi reportedly warned the girl through tears that she would have to quit the group if Andrade didn’t let her remain.
Trevi reportedly told her, “I don’t want you to leave, go speak to [Andrade], do whatever he wants of you… because I want you to remain.”
Jane Doe 1 went to Andrade’s hotel room in tears and was informed she needed sex with him to be in the group, the complaint says. “[Jane Doe 1] didn’t want to have sex with [Andrade] but felt enormous pressure since she idolised [Trevi] and [Andrade], who were adults, and she wanted to continue in the group and didn’t know what else to do,” the affidavit states.
Andrade, 36 at the time, allegedly persuaded Jane Doe 1 into an initial sexual attack that night and subsequently “forced” her into a series of assaults and rapes until 2001.
“When [Trevi] believed [Jane Doe 1] was at a ‘breaking point’ from the abuse, [she] would manipulate and pressure [Jane Doe 1] into remaining with the group, not leaving, and not informing anybody about it,” the document alleges. “[She] told [Jane Doe 1] that remaining with the group was better than going outdoors.”
Trevi informed Jane Doe 1 the group was “a family” “What awaits you in Puebla?” Trevi asked. “Don’t squander this chance. You’ll travel, make music, and learn a lot, but do this.”
The complaint claims Andrade controlled Jane Doe 1 and other unnamed dancers by lashing, beating, starving, and exercising them if they “displeased” him.
“He struck [Jane Doe 1] and other young female dancers with electrical wires until their backs were red and bruised,” the complaint states. “He didn’t stop beating until they were still and quiet”
By late 1993, Jane Doe 1 was allegedly taken off the stage and become Andrade’s sex slave. She was so frightened and “broken” by the sexual and physical assault that she stayed with the gang despite feeling “hopeless” and “like a zombie.”
Jane Doe 1 claims she was “sexually, physically, and mentally abused” when she flew with Trevi and Andrade to Southern California for recording sessions and gigs, including Trevi’s appearance at the Roxy Theater on August 31, 1992. The lawsuit claims Andrade abused until 2000.
Trevi reportedly observed Jane Doe 2 in June 1989 outside a Mexico City radio station. Trevi approached the girl and praised her “extremely tall and attractive” look, according to the complaint.
Trevi reportedly instructed the girl to remove her clothing for an “audition” weeks later, saying she had done the same to determine “what sections of her body required surgery.” The child refused to disrobe but sang and danced and was promised a “scholarship” to study with Andrade, the complaint states.
According to the lawsuit, Trevi started grooming the girl to become Andrade’s “lover,” telling her she was the right candidate to help him “believe in love again” after another girl her age “betrayed him” and destroyed his heart. Later that summer, when Jane Doe 2 was 13, Andrade allegedly sexually assaulted her in Mexico City. Trevi was 21; he was 33.
Andrade reportedly grew aggressive and domineering, assuring Jane Doe 2 he’d “make her a star” like Trevi provided she followed his demands. According to the lawsuit, he created a calendar with dates indicating intentions to record her first album in Los Angeles, but he would “cross out the date” if she “misbehaved.”
Andrade allegedly thrashed Jane Doe 2 with a belt, punched and slapped her, and denied her food and restroom breaks.
The assault reportedly continued when he took Trevi to Los Angeles for long visits between 1990 and 1992, when she recorded Tu ngel de la Guarda and Mi Siento Tan Sola. Jane Doe 2 reportedly contacted her mother to be rescued from “evil guys” in Los Angeles. Trevi reportedly spent hours urging her to remain, saying she was “so close to finishing her record and becoming a singer.”
Andrade allegedly married Jane Doe 2 in Mexico when she was 15 to remove her from her mother’s care. Jane Doe 2 married because she feared what Andrade would do if she refused. In December 1992, she allegedly “escaped” from the troupe’s Mexico City group home. Both claimants allege “severe mental discomfort, worry, uneasiness, wrath and terror” and “problems with trust and control”
The Jane Does submit their case before the deadline of California’s Child Victims Act, a 2019 law that temporarily suspended the statute of limitations for sexual abuse survivors to pursue civil actions. December 31 was the lookback deadline. Last Monday, a lady sued Steven Tyler over sexual assault accusations from the 1970s when she was 16.
While the Child Victims Act expired, another California legislation took effect Monday, enabling adult victims of sexual abuse to bring previously time-barred claims until 2023 if one or more defendants participated in a cover-up.
