Model Chloe Ayling Was Not An Accomplice In Her Own Kidnapping, Lawyers Argue

British model Chloe Ayling was kidnapped while on business in Italy in early July. Her alleged captor, Lukasz Pawel Herba, allegedly drugged her and stuck her in the trunk of his car. The model was held imprisoned for six days while allegedly Herba attempted to sell her online as a sex slave.

CHLOE AYLING NEWS

Suspicion has been building that Ayling was possibly involved in her own kidnapping as a publicity stunt. Her lawyer, Francesco Pesce, claims that Ayling went along with the kidnapping in order to “avoid conflict.” “In a state like that, she was terrified. It’s a 20-year-old woman, in an unknown country. If your captor tells you something, you believe it,” he said.

In Ayling’s statement to Italian police, she says she one night shared a bed with Herba, but she was never sexually abused. At first she claimed Herba wouldn’t allow her to leave the house, but when pressed, she admitted that she had gone out to buy shoes. Ayling then said Herba later took her to the British consulate at 7 a.m. to return her, but it was closed, so they ate breakfast together before returning at 9:30 a.m. It was then that Herba was arrested.

“She went along with what he asked her to do, look at shoes and buy groceries. This doesn’t make her an accomplice,” Pesce continued. “She decided to go along with it to avoid any kind of conflict, followed him blindly, went into the shoe shop. This doesn’t mean she was in any way involved. You just go along with it, hoping every minute that your liberation will be real. It may be a strange thing, but this doubt has been overruled by prosecutors, she has convinced the judge. She was told she was going to be sold to somebody in the Middle East for sex, she was terrified.”

The online ad that attempted to sell Ayling as a sex slave has been discovered. It features a photo of the blonde lying on the ground in a pink leotard, with a piece of paper from the seller (Black Death) with their asking price. Black Death claims they “do not sell girls that are terminally ill, pregnant, have STDS or are young mothers.” It is thought that Ayling was released when her captors discovered that she has a two-year-old son. The suspect also allegedly contacted the model’s agent asking for $300,000 in order to stop the online auction of Ayling.

“I am incredibly grateful to the Italian and UK authorities for all they have done to secure my safe release,” Ayling told The Telegraph.