Katie Price’s former husband Kieran Hayler allegedly sent a 13-year-old girl a text message reading “I love you” after she claims he raped her for the third time.
The complainant, now 23 and protected by legal anonymity, alleges that Hayler raped her three times in West Sussex during 2016, leaving her in tears.
Hayler, who was married to Price from 2013 until 2021, faces three counts of rape and one count of sexual assault against the girl. He denies all the allegations and has pleaded not guilty.
The woman contacted the NSPCC in 2021. The charity then referred her to police, leading to an investigation.
Hayler was first questioned by police in January 2022. He denied that any of the alleged incidents had taken place and said there had been no sexual activity.
Giving evidence at Lewes Crown Court on Tuesday, the complainant said that after the third alleged incident, she received a message from Hayler stating: “I love you goodnight.” She replied: “I love you too.”
Earlier, the woman told the court that Hayler had warned her to keep their secret for the rest of her life.
She said: “A year or two years after, I remember him ringing me and he said, ‘You’ll promise you won’t tell anyone – what we had was special, you’ll take it to the grave, if you do I’ll get in trouble.’”
Katie Price’s former husband Kieran Hayler is pictured outside Lewes Crown Court on Tuesday morning
“I wasn’t frightened of him but I thought if I said anything it wouldn’t end well for me.
“I didn’t think he’d ever hurt me, but if I ever said anything he would say I was lying or making it up and make me look a lot worse, so I never wanted to say anything.”
Asked why she eventually went to police, the woman said: “I don’t want to go down the line in 20 years and find he’s done it to someone else. I would just hate myself.
“I saw something in the news about him being an amazing dad and I got this rage inside of me. I was so angry. I started to email the NSPCC.”
During further questioning by Hayler’s defence barrister, Arlette Piercy, the complainant was asked about difficulties recalling specific details of the alleged rapes.
“You’ve said you find it hard to disentangle the two incidents [the second and third alleged rapes],” Ms Piercy said.
The woman then turned to Judge Mark Van Der Zwart and said: “I’m so sorry, your honour, I think I’m going to be sick,” before leaving the courtroom.
Earlier during cross-examination, Ms Piercy asked the woman whether she accepted that she was unclear about many of the details.
“Do you accept that?”
“Yes,” the woman replied.
“If you are telling the truth, it’s a very significant time for you and you would have a clearer recollection,” Ms Piercy told her.
‘I’m so sorry, I really don’t understand,’ the woman said.
Ms Piercy asked her: ‘Is this because you’ve made it up?’
‘No. I was 13,’ the woman said.
In a previous police interview, the woman said when she first told her mother what happened between her and Hayler, she did not tell her the whole truth.
She said: ‘I think I lied to her. I didn’t want her to think that I was disgusting or be disappointed in me for what happened.
‘I thought it was my fault for ages. I don’t think I told her it was sex. I think I told her that he’d touched me and I told him to get off.
‘I didn’t want her to think that I’d led him on. I thought it was my fault for what happened for ages. I thought I should have done more about it.
‘I kind of let him do it, so for ages I thought it was my fault.’
The woman said her mother noticed a change in her after the alleged rapes, adding: ‘I remember having four showers a day after that.
Hayler was married to TV personality Ms Price between 2013 and 2021
‘Not that I felt dirty, but I remember thinking he’s a lot older than me and is this something I should be doing? I remember crying and thinking, is this supposed to happen?
‘I remember my mum thinking I was always washing myself and I was changing my underwear three times a day.’
The woman said she has never spoken to Katie Price about what happened with her then-husband, though told police there was an exchange of messages on Instagram between them.
The complainant said: ‘She messaged me to say, “I know you are going through a tough time and I support you in everything”.
‘I said, “Thanks for your support, but I can’t really talk about it”.
‘She replied after that saying that “I’ve done my interview” and I said I hadn’t done mine yet.
‘I thought she would screenshot it and send it to Kieran, so I deleted it and blocked her,’ she told police.
Jurors heard when the trial opened on Monday that Hayler will say Ms Price made up the allegations as part of a campaign against him.
Hayler believes the allegations were ‘created’ and he was being ‘set up’ after the breakdown of their marriage.
Jurors were told mother-of-five Ms Price, 48, will be called as a witness in the trial.
His Honour Judge Van Der Zwart described Ms Price as a media personality who the jury had likely heard of.
Stripper and reality TV star Hayler met Ms Price in 2012 and proposed on Christmas Day. They married at a luxury Caribbean resort the following year.
In a previous statement, Sussex Police said: ‘We can confirm Kieran Hayler, of Northchapel, West Sussex, has been charged with three counts of rape and one count of sexual assault against a 13-year-old girl.
‘The offences are alleged to have occurred at an address in West Sussex between June 1 and October 13, 2016.
‘The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has received support from specially trained officers as our enquiries continue.’
A representative for Hayler has previously said: ‘Kieran Hayler strongly denies the allegations made against him in their entirety.
‘Mr Hayler is fully engaged and has been co-operating with the police throughout the investigation and will continue to do so.
‘He looks forward to his name being cleared believing in the judicial system to do so.’
The alleged victim is not part of Hayler or Ms Price’s extended families.
The trial at Lewes Crown Court continues.