US influencer Braden Eric Peters, known online as Clavicular, has been charged in Massachusetts with rape, drugging a person for sexual intercourse and providing alcohol to a person under 21.
The charges were filed in Orleans District Court on 8 September over an alleged incident in Massachusetts in May 2025. Peters, who is 20, is scheduled to appear for arraignment on 14 October.
The criminal case alleges serious sexual offences. The charges are allegations only and have not been proven in court. A representative for Peters has disputed the way the case has been reported, while his lawyer has previously said he denies allegations made against him in a separate civil lawsuit.
A civil lawsuit filed in Florida earlier this year by a teenager alleged that Peters provided her with alcohol at a party at his parents’ Cape Cod home and later had sex with her while she was unable to consent. The Guardian reported that it was not immediately clear whether that lawsuit and the new Massachusetts charges concern the same incident.
The Florida lawsuit also alleges other conduct, including the non-consensual injection of a substance described in the filing as methamphetamine-laced Aqualyx. Peters’ attorney said at the time that his client denied the claims and would defend himself through the appropriate legal channels.
Peters became prominent online through “looksmaxxing”, a trend focused on changing or improving physical appearance. The trend includes practices ranging from grooming and fitness to more extreme methods, and has attracted criticism from experts concerned about its effect on young people’s body image and mental health.
The Massachusetts case follows a separate Florida criminal case. In May, Peters pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of unlawfully discharging a firearm in public after a livestream showed him and others shooting at a dead alligator in the Everglades. He received six months’ probation, 20 hours of community service and firearm and wildlife safety requirements, with adjudication withheld.
The new Massachusetts case is due to return to court at Peters’ scheduled arraignment on 14 October.
