I must confess that when the first headlines about the Tate brothers surfaced years ago I felt a weary familiarity with how quickly public commentary races ahead of evidence. Yesterday's arrest in Miami offers a useful corrective. It shows institutions grinding through their proper, unglamorous processes rather than yielding to the noise.
Andrew and Tristan Tate were arrested by the US Marshals Service in Miami on 18 July. The detention followed an extradition request from the United Kingdom after the Crown Prosecution Service authorised fresh charges. British prosecutors now seek their return to face both these new allegations and an earlier set of 21 counts.
The additional charges against Andrew Tate comprise seven counts of rape, three of arranging or facilitating trafficking for sexual exploitation, three of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and 19 more relating to indecent images of a child and extreme pornography. Tristan Tate faces one count of sexual assault, two of rape, and three of arranging or facilitating trafficking for sexual exploitation. The alleged offending spans July 2010 to August 2017 and involves four further victims, bringing the total to seven.
These figures sit alongside the original 21 charges authorised last year. In that first batch Andrew faced three rape counts, four of actual bodily harm, two of human trafficking and one of controlling prostitution for gain linked to three alleged victims. Tristan faced three rape counts, six of actual bodily harm and two of human trafficking relating to one alleged victim. The pattern that emerges is one of painstaking accumulation of evidence rather than a sudden dramatic reveal.
Due process in practice
Malcolm McHaffie, head of the special crime division at the Crown Prosecution Service, set out the official position with careful understatement.
We have decided to prosecute Andrew and Tristan Tate for further offences including rape, arranging or facilitating trafficking for sexual exploitation and offences relating to indecent images of a child. These charging decisions followed receipt of a further file of evidence from Bedfordshire Police and bring the total number of alleged victims in this case to seven. The Crown Prosecution Service reminds everyone that criminal proceedings are active, and that these defendants have the right to a fair trial. It is extremely important that there be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings. The CPS has requested the extradition of the Tates from the US. They have been arrested and await extradition proceedings to the UK.
That last sentence is worth lingering over. The machinery has moved from investigation to charging to international cooperation. Extradition proceedings will test whether the evidence meets the legal thresholds on both sides of the Atlantic. None of this is swift or cinematic. It is, instead, the slow verification that separates rule of law from rumour.
