Prosecutors in the criminal case against reality television personality Sidney Starr are asking a Fulton County judge to prevent the sexual history of her 13-year-old accuser from being introduced in court as Starr prepares for her arraignment later this week.
According to court documents obtained by TMZ, prosecutors filed a rape-shield motion Thursday, August 27, seeking to keep evidence concerning the alleged victim’s prior sexual activity out of the proceedings unless it falls within an exception permitted under Georgia law.
The filing is an evidentiary request from prosecutors and does not mean Starr’s defense team has already attempted to introduce the teenager’s sexual history.
Starr, whose legal name is Sidney Favors, was arrested August 2 following an alleged encounter involving the 13-year-old at an Embassy Suites on International Boulevard in Hapeville, Georgia.
The 37-year-old Love & Hip Hop: New York personality faces felony charges of aggravated child molestation, sodomy and sexual battery against a child under 16. She remains in the Fulton County Jail and has denied the allegations against her.
More details surrounding the prosecution’s case emerged during Starr’s August 25 bond hearing.
Prosecutors told the court that the teenager was in the hotel lobby before eventually accompanying Starr to her room, where authorities allege sexual contact occurred. Starr told investigators that the teen represented himself to her as being 18 years old.
That remains Starr’s account of the encounter and should not be confused with an established finding about what the teenager told her.
Authorities and the boy’s family say he is 13.
Starr’s attorneys argued for her release on bond, pointing to her lack of a significant criminal history, her previous court appearances and what they described as her cooperation with investigators.
Prosecutors opposed her release.
They argued that Starr’s lifelong residence in Chicago and limited ties to Georgia created a flight risk. The state also raised concerns that her television profile and substantial social-media following could potentially be used to influence or intimidate witnesses.
The judge ultimately sided with prosecutors and denied bond, finding that Starr posed a flight risk and that concerns existed regarding potential interference with witnesses.
The teenager’s mother also addressed the court during the hearing, telling the judge that her son has required extensive therapy since the alleged encounter and asking that Starr remain in custody.
Starr has maintained her innocence.
The latest rape-shield filing now turns attention toward what evidence may eventually be permitted if the case reaches trial.
Georgia’s rape-shield protections generally restrict the introduction of evidence concerning an alleged victim’s previous sexual behavior in prosecutions involving certain sexual offenses, subject to exceptions and a judge’s determination of admissibility. Prosecutors are asking the court to apply those protections to the 13-year-old in Starr’s case.
The state also filed a certificate of discovery and a notice of prosecution’s intent on August 27, according to the court records reviewed by TMZ.
Those filings come as the case moves beyond Starr’s arrest and bond proceedings and into the next phase of the prosecution.
Starr remains jailed without bond and is scheduled to return to Fulton County court Thursday, September 3, for her plea and arraignment.
She has not been convicted of any crime, and the allegations against her remain to be proven in court.