Mexican Pop Star, 2 Backup Singers Are Acquitted of Rape
Mexican pop star Gloria Trevi was acquitted Tuesday of rape, kidnapping and corruption of minors and ordered released from prison.
Judge Javier Pineda ruled that there was insufficient evidence to convict the 36-year-old performer and two backup singers who had faced the same charges.
Pineda read his verdict in front of a courtroom cage holding the three suspects, who each could have received 25 years in prison.
Trevi did not speak to dozens of reporters in the courtroom after the verdict.
Prosecutors will have five days to appeal.
Trevi, backup singers Maria Raquenel Portillo and Marlene Calderon and their manager, Sergio Andrade, had been charged with kidnapping and sexually abusing girls who had joined their globetrotting entourage.
They were arrested in Rio de Janeiro in January 2000. Andrade faces a separate trial.
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