Rapper Tekashi69 gets probation for child sex case
Rapper Tekashi69, real name Daniel Hernandez, arrives for his arraignment on assault charges in on August 22, 2018 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)
Rapper Tekashi69 was sentenced in a New York City courthouse Friday and walked out with just probation for his child sex case, according to TMZ.
In October 2015, before he was famous, Tekashi69 plead guilty to one count of Use of a Child in a Sexual Performance. Three years later, the rainbow-hair rapper was sentenced to four years of probation, which is reportedly what his legal team asked for.
Tekashi69, whose government name is Daniel Hernandez, received credit for one year, so he’ll only actually serve three years of probation. He’s also ordered to complete 1,000 hours of community service and to not associate with any gang members.
“I have millions of youth that look at me as a role model and the last place I want to be is incarcerated, they don’t deserve it,” he said directly to the judge, per TMZ. “Thank you.”
The crime took place at a party in Harlem and prosecutors say video shows another man and a 13-year-old girl engaging in sexual acts while Tekashi69 – 18 years old at the time -- stood “behind the child making thrusting motion with his pelvis and smacking on her buttocks.”
His sentence was deferred for two years on conditions that he eventually violated after being arrested in New York and Texas. In New York, the rapper was arrested in May after allegedly squeezing a lieutenant’s hand in a Brooklyn precinct after police learned he had an open warrant in Texas for allegedly attacking a fan.
“Daniel understands what he must now do moving forward and we will be with him every step of the way,” said a representative for the rapper. “We also want to thank the judge for being very fair and impartial.”