Mexican singer and actress Mary Boquitas was shut down by a Los Angeles judge Friday after she tried to countersue two Jane Does for defamation. The women named her as a co-defendant in the blockbuster sex abuse lawsuit filed last year against pop diva Gloria Trevi and disgraced Mexican music producer Sergio Andrade.
At a morning hearing, Judge Ralph C. Hofer ruled that Boquitas had no grounds to sue the Does for defamation, false light, and intentional infliction of emotional distress considering their “allegedly defamatory statements are all found in (their) complaint, and any statements made in a legal document in a pending case is protected activity.”
Judge Hofer dismissed the three claims with prejudice, meaning they can’t be brought again. He then took it upon himself to further reject Boquitas’ remaining cross-claims of indemnity and contribution, which alleged that the Does actively contributed to any injuries they suffered as alleged victims of Andrade’s purported secret sex ring.
“All five causes of action in fact arise out of the protected activity of filing the complaint in this action,” the judge said in his ruling. “(Boquitas) has offered no evidence in support of any of (her) causes of action.”
Boquitas, whose legal name is María Raquenel Portillo Jimenez, appeared by phone at the hearing and asked for a delay because she’s representing herself. The judge declined her request, saying she must follow the same court rules as everyone else.
According to the Jane Does, they were 13 and 15 years old respectively when Trevi approached them in public and “enticed” them into joining Andrade’s music training program by promoting it as an elite star-making opportunity. They claim Trevi and Boquitas were both adults in the group when they witnessed or “sometimes participated” in “horrendous” abuse that included forced sexual contact, beatings, whippings, forced exercise, and food deprivation.
Both Trevi and Boquitas have denied any wrongdoing, saying they were victims of Andrade’s abuse and manipulation as well. “Being a victim of physical and sexual abuse is one of the worst things that can happen to a human being. I say it, and I know it, because I am a survivor. And my thoughts go out to anyone who, like me, has ever been the victim of any kind of abuse,” Trevi said in an Instagram post earlier this year. The superstar singer, whose 2011 self-titled album Gloria topped Billboard‘s Latin Albums chart, said she was “unfairly accused of crimes” she didn’t commit. “These false accusations, which were first made against me more than 25 years ago, have been tried in various courts and, in all instances, I have been completely and totally acquitted,” she wrote.
Trevi, 55, was often called “the Mexican Madonna,” while Andrade was credited as being her behind-the-scenes producer with the Midas touch, at least until the pair seemingly disappeared ahead of a flood of sex cult allegations from multiple former protégées. The claims would explode into an international scandal, with Andrade re-cast as a violent serial pedophile and Trevi his willing accomplice. The two would be arrested in Brazil in January 2000 after an international manhunt.
Trevi would go on to spend four years in pre-trial detention before being acquitted by a judge who said there was insufficient evidence to support the rape, kidnapping, and corruption of minors charges filed against her by Mexican prosecutors. After spending four years awaiting trial, Andrade was convicted of rape, kidnapping and corruption of minors. He ended up spending only one more year behind bars and has not responded to the civil case now unfolding in Los Angeles County Superior Court. According to court filings, his address in Mexico is “unknown.”
Boquitas, meanwhile, wrote in her cross-complaint that she married an adult Andrade when she was only 15 years old. Immediately after the wedding, he became “physically, mentally, emotionally and verbally abusive,” her paperwork reads. She alleges one of the Jane Does in the current civil case contacted her in 2021 and “mentioned her plans to pursue a lawsuit” based on alleged California-based abuse. Boquitas says she considered joining the legal action as Andrade’s first victim but decided “to ignore the situation in hopes” that it would “die out.” She signed a contract in July 2022 to do a podcast on the story of her life and says she had no idea she became a defendant in the civil case until she was served with the complaint in March 2023.
The podcast, titled En Boca Cerrada and produced by Uforia and Pitaya Entertainment, reportedly was the most listened to Spanish-language podcast in the U.S. upon its release, reaching No. 52 on Spotify’s Top Podcasts list. In Mexico, it reached No. 1 on both Spotify and Apple, according to Billboard.
A lawyer for Trevi attended the Friday hearing remotely but did not address the court. The case is due back before a judge on Jan. 12, 2024. Trevi is pressing the court to force the Jane Does to proceed using their real names.
“The use of pseudonyms is a life and death issue for plaintiffs,” a lawyer for the Does wrote in a recent filing. “They are justifiably terrified of the problems that Defendant Trevi, her husband and her millions of social media followers will cause if their identities are disclosed.”