Update (August 7th 2024): No criminal proceedings are being taken against Scottish Valorant player Zander ‘Avexic’ Fraser following serious allegations made towards him in 2022.
A Police Scotland spokesperson sent the following statement to Esports News UK: “In November 2022 we received a report of sexual offences which happened in the Aberdeen and Moray area between 2020 and 2022. A 19-year-old man was arrested and released without charge.
“Further extensive enquiries were carried out and he was charged with sexual communication offences which happened in June 2020. A report was submitted to the Procurator Fiscal.”
A spokesperson for Scotland’s Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) sent us the following statement:
“After careful consideration of the facts and circumstances of the case, including admissible evidence, the Procurator Fiscal decided that there should be no proceedings taken at this time.”
Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service
“The Crown reserves the right to proceed in the future should further evidence become available.”
The Valorant player is now suing his accuser, Twitter user bebaberry, for defamation, with the legal action currently ongoing.
Axexic told Esports News UK: “I strenuously deny the allegations. I didn’t deny them at the time they were made, because I was legally advised not to initially respond.”
Bebaberry first made public accusations against Avexic in January 2022. Police Scotland said they received a report in November 2022 of alleged sexual offences between 2020 and 2022. We understand this report was made after Avexic began legal action against Bebaberry. Avexic was arrested in April 2023 and questioned by police before being released.
Avexic has since reopened his Twitter profile following the initial accusations made towards him in 2022.
Avexic is now 21 years old and bebaberry is 20.
We have reached out to both bebaberry for comment, as well as Skelp, the Scottish esports organisation that dropped Avexic in early 2022 following the accusations, and will update this article with comment should we hear back.
Original article (published January 11th 2022):
Scottish Valorant player Zander ‘Avexic’ Fraser has been let go from his esports organisation after being accused of sexual assault and grooming minors.
The 18-year-old was IGL (in-game leader) for Scottish organisation Skelp, who have this morning published a statement on the matter.
“Avexic no longer represents Skelp in any capacity,” Skelp said in this Twitlonger post. “We stand for being an open, welcoming and safe organisation and will continue to do that moving forward.
“For anyone impacted by a similar situation, we would urge you to use these very helpful resources: the National Domestic Abuse Helpline, Women’s Aid and Refuge.
“We won’t be commenting on the situation further while we investigate it from a legal perspective.”
Early this morning, Twitter user bebaberry_ published a Twitlonger detailing her alleged experiences with Avexic and made serious accusations towards him.
She said she began dating Avexic when she was 15 years old, and that he asked for nude and underage images from her, and made other allegations towards him. The Twitlonger was later deleted.
“Avexic no longer represents Skelp in any capacity. We stand for being an open, welcoming and safe organisation and will continue to do that moving forward.”
Skelp
Avexic has since deleted his Twitter profile.
Avexic had performed in a number of Valorant esports tournaments, including the 2021 College Development Network Esports Scottish Cup, which he won with North East Scotland College. He’s also competed in VCT open qualifiers and the Valorant UK and Ireland Skirmish, which took place last year.
Last month, Riot Games announced Valorant Regional Leagues (VRLs) and Circuits for EMEA in 2022, including a UK, Ireland and Nordics league run by Promod Esports.
Avexic was due to play in the VRL and VCT with Skelp this year in what the org were calling ‘Scotland’s best Valorant team’.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
