Doctor Strange Actor Accused Of Sexually Abusing A Minor

Doctor Strange actress Zara Phythian and her husband Victor Marke have been accused of grooming and repeatedly sexually abusing a 13-year-old girl, a court has heard.

The couple are accused of 14 joint charges of sexual activity with a child between 2005 and 2008.

The 36-year-old, who appeared in 2016's Doctor Strange alongside Benedict Cumberbatch, and her 59-year-old husband deny all of the charges laid against them.

The woman accusing the couple says when she was a child she looked up to Phythian, who was with Marke but not yet married to him at the time, and that she was sexually abused by the couple between the ages of 13 and 15 years old.

Alamy

A police interview where she described details of the alleged offences was played to Nottingham Crown Court in which she said Phythian gave her alcohol and encouraged her to perform oral sex on Marke, who then had sex with both of them.

The woman also alleges she was 'coached' by Phythian to get better at sex and estimates she had sex with Marke around 20 times.

She said: "I knew it was wrong but I just didn't know how to get out of the situation or say anything.

"I remember trying to copy Zara's reaction at the time because I looked up to her and tried to be like her in every way."

Per the BBC, further allegations were made that Marke threatened her with physical violence and said he would 'smash her kneecaps' if she tried to tell anyone what they were doing to her.

She said: "He just said nobody would believe me if I told them anyway.

"They always had a power over me."

Alamy

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said she had planned to 'die with my shame' until she became a mother and decided she had 'no option to speak my truth' in the hope that others would not be targeted in the way she had been.

Marke is also accused of four further charges including indecently assaulting a child in connection to another woman who was aged 15 and complained to the police that she was abused between 2002 and 2003.

He also denies those charges.

If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, contact The Survivor’s Trust for free on 08088 010 818, or through their website thesurvivorstrust.org 

Topics: Crime, UK News

Joe Harker

Joe graduated from the University of Salford with a degree in Journalism and worked for Reach before joining the LADbible Group. When not writing he enjoys the nerdier things in life like painting wargaming miniatures and chatting with other nerds on the internet. He's also spent a few years coaching fencing. Contact him via [email protected]

@MrJoeHarker