Alaskan Bush People star Matt Brown has been accused of raping two women in 2018 just days apart after he had been heavily drinking.
The 37-year-old rose to fame on the Discovery Channel’s reality show which follows his family’s move to the Alaskan wilderness, but he eventually left the show due to his struggle with substance abuse.
The women, who both worked for Brown and his family, said he raped them in Los Angeles in 2018.
Jessica Jurges, 35, a former personal assistant to Brown’s family, came forward in an interview with The Sun, claiming Brown raped her in a swimming pool as she tried to fight him off on July 8, 2018 in Canoga Park, Los Angeles.
Alaskan Bush People star Matt Brown, 37, has been accused of raping two women in 2018 just days apart after he had been heavily drinking
Jurges said Brown was drinking vodka while she drank Hennessy before he insisted they get in the pool.
'Matt eventually persuaded me to get in [the pool] and he was like a shark. He ripped my bathing suit off. Wouldn't let go of me. I said no probably a million times,' Jurges said.
'I was disgusted. I said everything nasty I could to him, to get him off me and it wasn't happening,' Jurges added, noting she can barely swim.
'He kept saying, "Take your glasses off." I was just thinking, "I’m dying."'
She said that Shelly Dawn, 54, – Brown’s alleged second victim – came to her rescue.
She pulled Brown off of her by pulling his hair and gave Jurges room to escape.
'After the attack, we got out of the pool. And we're just reprimanding him saying, 'Matt what the f*** is wrong with you? Don't you ever do that to anybody. You'll go to prison. Do you understand?'... He just apologized and cried,' Jurges explained.
Three days later on July 11 Dawn claims that Brown allegedly raped her at the very same location wild 'out-of-his-mind drunk'. She was Brown’s manager at the time.
'It was just days after I had pulled him out of the pool when he was trying to get at Jessica. I was at the same house and that's when he raped me,' Dawn said.
But she said she had trouble fighting him off because she had a recent hip replacement operation done.
'He knew that I had a hip replacement and he knew that my legs aren't as strong as the rest of my body and that's how it happened,' she alleged.
'He was out-of-his-mind drunk. After it happened, he told me that I raped him — that's how drunk he was,' she added.
Jurges said she told members of Brown’s family about the alleged rape.
The Sun obtained text messages allegedly shared between Jurges and Brown’s brothers Bear and Gabe.
The 37-year-old rose to fame on the Discovery Channel’s reality show Alaskan Bush People which follows his family’s move to the Alaskan wilderness, but he eventually left the show due to his struggle with substance abuse
He first entered a rehab facility for alcohol abuse in 2016 and again in September 2018, two months after the alleged rapes. Pictured left in the image on the left
Brown pictured above in an Instagram photo he shared in January
In one text Bear allegedly sent to Jurges he said: 'I tried to warn you! If I knew he was that bad though! I’d have killed him.'
Gabe allegedly wrote: 'I’m so sorry I mean this with all my heart stay away from Matt.'
Both women reported the alleged rapes to the LAPD’s Topanga Division, who launched an investigation and the case was sent to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office. But, the DA's Office declined to prosecute.
The Discovery Channel said in a statement to People Magazine Wednesday that they found the allegations 'disturbing'.
'Discovery Channel was approached several years ago regarding the allegations, finding them disturbing and very serious.'
'We agreed the local authorities should be contacted immediately. Due to the nature of the accusations we felt that all cooperation would be most appropriately handled by law enforcement,' the statement adds.
On July 15 this year he shared a photo of his sobriety coin revealing two years ago he walked into rehab 'completely broken'
The women say their lives have been destroyed since the alleged assaults and they're heartbroken that the district attorney decided against prosecuting the case.
'It was very disappointing because they made it sound like I was just out for money,' Dawn said. 'It's not about the money. It's about being respected and treated like a person instead of like an object you can just hurt and use and abuse, any way you want to.'
Brown, who has a long struggle with substance abuse, hasn't commented on the alleged rapes.
He first entered a rehab facility for alcohol abuse in 2016, at the time telling People Magazine that he noticed himself 'spiraling' after spending more time in Juneau, Alaska, where the show is filmed, and was drinking with friends and making 'bad choices'.
He has not appeared on the reality TV show, now in its 12th season, since season 8
He returned to rehab a second time in September 2018 hoping to have his 'life back on track soon'. That was two months after the alleged rapes.
In March 2019 he posted a photo to Instagram showing off his sobriety coin from the Betty Ford Center for addiction showing he was clean for several months.
On July 15 this year he shared another sobriety coin revealing two years ago he walked into rehab 'completely broken'.
'Slowly one day at a time, they helped me build myself back. It wasn't just about getting me back on the road again, for me it was mostly about processing addressing and dealing with the negative feelings and events of my past, that I just couldn't get over,' he said.
He has not appeared on the reality TV show, now in its 12th season, since season 8.
He now lives in California.
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