SHORT TAKES : Girl Tells of LL Cool J Crew Rape

A 15-year-old girl testified that she was raped by three crew members for LL Cool J while as many as eight members of the rap singer’s band stood by watching.

The girl, who said she never saw LL Cool J, said the singer’s bodyguard lured her to his hotel room in suburban Bloomington with promises of meeting the star and then began sexually assaulting her there.

She testified in Hennepin County District Court at the opening of the trial last week of bodyguard Christopher Tsipouras, 22, of Union, N.J.

Tsipouras is charged with two counts of first-degree sexual assault stemming from the alleged attack Aug. 10 following a concert by the popular rap band at Metropolitan Sports Center in Bloomington.

The girl testified that she and a 16-year-old friend had won tickets and backstage passes to the Aug. 9 concert from a radio station. But when it was time to go backstage, the station’s representative was late. Tsipouras then stepped in with an offer to meet LL Cool J, she testified.

In his opening statement, Tsipouras’ attorney, James Grochal, suggested that the girl had been wearing suggestive clothing and knew she was going to have sex when she went to the hotel.