Kyle Massey charged with immoral communication with a minor - Los Angeles Times
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Former Disney star Kyle Massey charged with immoral communication with a minor

A man sitting in a chair and holding a video game controller.
Actor Kyle Massey attends a 2011 event for Xbox 360 in West Hollywood.
(Casey Rodgers / AP Images for Microsoft)
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Actor Kyle Massey, who starred in the hit Disney channel sitcom “That’s So Raven†and spinoff “Cory in the House,†has been charged with one count of immoral communication with a minor.

According to court documents filed earlier this month in King County, Wash., and obtained Tuesday by The Times, Massey, 29, stands accused of communicating electronically with a minor “for immoral purposes of a sexual nature.â€

The complaint alleges that, between December 2018 and January 2019, Massey delivered sexually explicit photos and video to the victim — identified only as MR — via the Snapchat app and pressured her to travel to Los Angeles to stay with him and his girlfriend.

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Massey was 27 and MR was 13 at the time of the communication, though the former had allegedly known the latter since she was 4.

There’s yet another departure coming to “The Viewâ€: Raven-Symoné will leave the ABC daytime talker later this year to develop a Disney Channel spinoff of her onetime popular series “That’s So Raven.â€

In 2019, MR’s mother filed a civil lawsuit against Massey in California, but later — after learning that her lawyers had dropped the suit because “Massey didn’t have enough money to make the case worth it†— reported the actor’s alleged misconduct to the sheriff’s department, according to this month’s filing.

On Wednesday evening, Massey’s attorney, Lee A. Hutton, released a statement speculating that the 2019 suit was abandoned not for financial reasons but because the plaintiff’s lawyers were “not willing to make misrepresentations to the court.†He added that Massey plans to “aggressively defend these accusations again,†as well as “seek civil damages from those that refuse to hear the facts.â€

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“It is unfortunate that Kyle Massey had to learn through the media yesterday that the 2019 allegations have resurfaced in the State of Washington a year after their dismissal,†Hutton said in the statement.

“Massey claims that the allegations then and now are extortive. The statements made to the police regarding the accuser’s own counsel’s advice seem peculiar, tearing away the veracity from the stale allegations. The accusers in no hidden agenda attempt to use the Washington courts as a platform for revenge after losing the civil matter.â€

If Massey is found guilty, the state is requesting that he be barred from contacting children under any circumstances and that a tracking system be installed on his electronic devices to monitor his activity. Prosecutors also demanded that a sexual assault protection order be issued to MR.

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According to Variety, Massey failed to attend his arraignment hearing Monday.

During his time on the Disney Channel, Massey was known for playing Cory Baxter, the mischievous younger brother of Raven-Symoné’s Raven Baxter, on “That’s So Raven†from 2003 to 2007. “Cory in the House,†a short-lived offshoot centering on Massey’s character, ran soon after.

Times news researcher Julia Franco contributed to this report.

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