by Sophie Wilkinson |

Sam Pepper, the Big Brother contestant-turned-mildly-successful YouTube vlogger (video blogger…) annoyed a lot of people after he uploaded a video of himslef pinching random women’s bums on the street. It was all meant to be a funny prank, but of course, sexual assault isn’t that lolsy, so the video was complained about the world over and people pretty much agreed that Pepper is a dodgy human being.

But today, as police confirmed to the media that Pepper has been questioned on suspicion of a sexual offence against a woman, the only positive outcome is that there is the acknowledgement from the authorities that he’s properly dodgy and potentially criminal.

The LA Police Department (LAPD) confirmed to BBC Newsbeat that the investigation took place in July of this year. However, the district attorney’s office decided against taking Pepper to court as the alleged victim ‘was not willing to testify’.

Meanwhile, just yesterday, another woman, aged 18, filed an incident report with the LAPD alleging that she had been raped by Pepper. She had posted a YouTube video of her account, but thought it would also be a good idea to speak to the police so people could be warned to avoid him.

She explained to Buzzfeed that she had partied with a group of people from a ‘YouTube-Viner group’ and eventually Pepper had offered to give her a lift home. After dropping off friends, he drove the wrong way as he said he needed to go home to pick something up.

Once at his, he led the woman in, and she followed to play with his dog. Pepper then walked into his room and they sat on his bed to watch YouTube prank videos: ‘He just made it another really friendly situation where it was not flirting or anything, he was just showing me something.’

However, while they were watching the videos, he came onto her. She rejected him, then he raped her, she told Buzzfeed: ‘I was just a body to him, I was not a person.’

These are the first two incidences we’ve heard of someone actually going to the police to tell them about the YouTuber’s alleged misdemeanours. However, several women have come out with their stories about Pepper’s behaviour. Bryony Harris, 19, told Buzzfeed that Pepper solicited naked photos of her when she was 15 and he was 22. A woman from Toronto also alleged that Pepper raped her in 2013.

Pepper has not responded to the allegations, but we’re still pretty fuming that he got away with the bum-pinching prank. Still, at the very least, the prank encouraged women to come forward to tell their stories of alleged abuse, which, ultimately, can’t be a bad thing.

You might also be interested in:

Follow Sophie on Twitter @sophwilkinson