Anthony Harvey/Getty Images Zara Phythian at the ‘Doctor Strange’ premiere in 2016.
Doctor Strange actress Zara Phythian and her husband, Victor Marke, have been convicted of multiple charges of child sex abuse in a British court.
According to a document provided to EW by the Nottingham Crown Court clerk, 37-year-old Phythian — who was tried under the name Zara Marke — was convicted of 14 counts, with her 59-year-old husband convicted of 18.
The counts for Phythian all relate to sexual activity with a child that occurred between December 2005 and December 2008. She is named alongside Marke in all of her charges, though he is individually included on four additional indecent assault charges (for actions dating back to September 2002) as an individual.
Marke’s offenses include indecent assault of a 15-year-old victim, while both were convicted of multiple counts of sexual activity with another underage victim beginning when she was 13. Their actions span multiple years and repeated occasions involving the same victim.
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Phythian has two dozen credits listed on IMDb, the most notable being a small role in the 2016 Doctor Strange blockbuster opposite Benedict Cumberbatch as a “Brunette Zealot.” She does not appear in the sequel, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Per BBC reporting, Marke claimed that the sexual activity occurred on only one occasion, and that Phythian was not involved alongside him. Phythian reportedly denied any sexual activity with one of the victims.
Judge Mark Watson remanded the couple into custody following the trial, ahead of their May 16 sentencing. “Both of you know the sentence I pass on 16 May is likely to be measured by a considerable period of custody,” he said at the trial.
Nicole Hepburn from the Crown Prosecution Service said that Phythian and Marke were “exposed as the true liars” in the case, after the victims initially reported the pair years after the abuse began.
“This abuse may have occurred some years ago, but that makes it no less serious and nor is it a barrier to justice,” Hepburn continued, according to the BBC. “I would encourage anyone who has been abused in the past to come forward with the knowledge that the CPS will take your case seriously.”
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