Backstreet Boys singer Nick Carter is being sued for alleged sexual battery and assault, which he has denied.
The singer, 43, used his “role, status, and power as a well-known singer” to groom, manipulate, and sexually exploit pop star Melissa Schuman, it has been claimed.
Melissa, 38, who was part of US girl band Dream, filed the claim against Nick on Tuesday 11 April in Los Angeles.
In the filing, obtained by the PA news agency, she alleged that Nick drugged and assaulted her at his apartment in 2003, when she was 18 years old.
The pair had been filming teen movie The Hollow together, and Nick had invited her to his Santa Monica apartment with a friend to play video games, the documents stated.
He is then alleged to have made her an alcoholic drink, in which he put “some form of flunitrazepam or a similar drug”.
Melissa claimed that Nick later forced her to masturbate him and forced himself on her, despite numerous objections.
Following the alleged incident she contracted the sexually transmitted disease HPV, which can cause health problems such as cervical cancer, and currently has no cure.
Though Melissa first went public with the claims – noted in the filing – in 2017, in a personal blog post titled 'Don’t Worry, I Won’t Tell Anybody', she told several people about the incident at the time, according to the documents.
At this time, Nick denied the accusations made against him, and said in a statement: "I am shocked and saddened by Ms. Schuman’s accusations.
"Melissa never expressed to me while we were together or at any time since that anything we did was not consensual."
He continued: "This is the first time that I am hearing about these accusations, nearly two decades later. It is contrary to my nature and everything I hold dear to intentionally cause someone discomfort or harm."
The following February, Melissa filed a report with the Santa Monica Police Department, hoping Carter would face criminal charges. But the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office declined to prosecute because the statute of limitations had expired, CNN reported at the time.
However, a California law that went into effect earlier this year revived sexual assault claims and extended the statute of limitations for reporting them.
The filing she has now made stated that Melissa attempted to keep her distance from Nick, but he continued to “intimidate, blame and harass” her.
“Defendant Carter’s conduct exceeded all bounds of decency and is odious and utterly intolerable in a civilized society,” it read.
“Defendant Carter’s conduct, including sexual assault and internet intimidation, caused emotional distress in Plaintiff and this emotional distress was and continues to be severe.”
Melissa has and continues to suffer from mental and emotional problems including depression, anxiety, loss of enjoyment of life, guilt, shame, fear, loneliness, nightmares and PTSD, the filing stated.
The Dream singer has requested a jury trial in the matter and damages to be determined by the court.
OK! has contacted Nick's representatives for comment.
In a statement released to the Rolling Stone on Tuesday, Nick's attorney Liane K. Wakayama said that Melissa “has been peddling this tale for many years, but her allegation was false when she first made it back in 2017 — and it still is.” Wakayama dismissed the lawsuit as a “PR stunt” and accused Melissa of “plotting to damage, defame and extort” Nick.
Meanwhile, in a statement provided to Page Six, Melissa said: “I have faced extraordinary backlash for standing up for myself; I am not the first, however my intention is that I am the last.”
“It’s time that powerful figures in the music industry get the message that they can no longer afford to enable and protect sexual predators,” she added. “I’m fighting to make the music industry a safer place to work and perform.”
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