'Doctor Strange' actor Zara Phythian and husband accused of sex with 13-year-old
Doctor Strange actor Zara Phythian and her husband have been accused of having sex with a 13-year-old girl after grooming her.
The actor — who played sorcerer Brunette Zealot in the 2016 Benedict Cumberbatch film — is accused of 14 charges of sexual activity with a child along with her husband Victor Marke, reported the BBC.
The pair have denied the charges.
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The girl, who is now an adult, alleged that things started when she was 13 and that the couple filmed many of the encounters in a bid to recreate porn scenes.
Giving details of the alleged offences in an interview played to Nottingham Crown Court, she said the abuse took place between 2005 to 2008 when she would have been aged between 13 and 15.
Phythian, who is now 36, would have been in her early 20s and she and Marke, a martial artist, were not married at the time.
The woman, who said she looked up to Phythian, said things started when the couple gave her alcohol.
She claims the actor then dared her to perform a sex act on Marke, who is now 59, and that afterwards he had sex with both of them.
The Nottingham Post reported that the woman said she felt that Phythian “coached” her when it came to the sexual activity.
She claimed the sexual activity continued on further occasions.
The alleged victim also said that as the alleged abuse continued, Marke warned her about telling anyone.
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Phythian, who goes by her married name of Zara Marke, has other screen credits to her name, including 2017 film Knights Of The Damned and 2020’s Tribal Get Out Alive.
She also appears in Accident Man 2, which is due to be released this year.
Marke is also facing four allegations of indecent assault on another woman who was 15 at the time. It is alleged that it took place between 2002 and 2003. He has also denied those charges.
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