Model accuses photographer of sexual assault
An Oklahoma City photographer was arrested Tuesday night after a woman reported he sexually assaulted her at a studio during a photo shoot.
About 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, police responded to the parking lot of a restaurant near downtown Oklahoma City after a woman called and said Victor Marsel Harris, 35, assaulted her while she was naked.
The woman said she had arranged to do a photo shoot with the photographer, a man she had known since November and had worked with as a model previously, adding that “their relationship was purely professional,” according to a police report.
She said she had arrived at the studio about 2:30 p.m. and had discussed with the photographer what photos would be taken, saying they agreed on several clothed shots and some “artistic nude photos.” She said no one else was at the studio, but that she felt comfortable with the photographer based on previous experience.
The woman told police that he talked her into posing for explicit nude photos, then assaulted her.
She said she jumped up off the floor, telling police she had not consented to any sexual activity. Harris began apologizing, saying “it shouldn’t have happened that way,” according to the police report.
The woman told police she thought Harris was trying to make her feel bad or that “what he did was not a big deal.”
After getting dressed, the woman left the studio and called a friend and her parents for advice before reporting the incident to police.
Officers responded to the studio but could not locate Harris. Reached on his cellphone, Harris told investigators he was at a restaurant near downtown having dinner.
He was arrested on a complaint of rape by instrumentation and was being held at the Oklahoma County jail Wednesday afternoon in lieu of $25,000 bail.