A third lawsuit has been filed against Backstreet Boys member Nick Carter, alleging the singer raped a 15-year-old girl two decades ago.
The lawsuit was filed Monday by an unnamed Pennsylvania woman in Clark County, Nev., according to Las Vegas news station KTNV.
In the legal filing, the woman, identified only as A.R., claims Carter sexually assaulted her multiple times in 2003, when Carter was 22 and 23 years old. She alleges Carter raped her in separate instances onboard a yacht and a boat in Florida, and sexually assaulted her on a bus.
A.R. claims Carter, now 43, instructed her “to keep his sexual abuse of her a secret.”
She is the third woman to file a lawsuit of this nature against the Backstreet Boys star. Two other women, Shannon Ruth and Melissa Schuman, have also accused Carter of rape and sexual assault. Ruth said Carter raped her when she was 17 years old.
In February, Carter filed a countersuit and denied both women’s claims. He called Ruth and Schuman “opportunists” who are taking advantage of the #MeToo movement to “defame and vilify” him for financial gain.
On Tuesday, Carter also denied A.R.’s allegations through his lawyer. In a statement to TMZ, Carter’s lawyer, Dale Hayes Jr., said A.R. made the same claims two decades ago, though authorities investigated and found no reason to pursue charges against the singer.
Hayes said A.R. is “repeating the same false allegations in a new legal complaint” and that it “doesn’t make them any more true.”
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“Nick is looking forward to the evidence being presented and the truth about these malicious schemes coming to light,” the statement concluded.
In the lawsuit, A.R. claims Carter raped her in a yacht cabin in Florida in August 2003 while she was an intoxicated minor.
A few days after that, Carter allegedly called A.R. to meet him on a bus, where he would sexually assault her.
In a third instance, A.R. claims Carter provided her drugs and alcohol at a party onboard a boat in October 2003. After she became drunk, A.R. alleges Carter took her to a cabin where he allowed three other men to watch him rape her.
A.R. claims she contracted human papillomavirus (HPV) from Carter.
She is suing for sexual battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent infliction of emotional distress.
As part of earlier lawsuits, Ruth said Carter invited her onto a tour bus after a concert in Tacoma, Wash., when she was 17 years old. She claims Carter gave her alcohol and forced her to perform oral sex before he raped her. Ruth also alleges that she contracted HPV from Carter.
Schuman, a former member of the girl group Dream, in 2017 accused Carter of sexually assaulting her when she was 18 and the pair collaborated on a film project in 2003.
Carter has never faced any criminal charges in relation to these allegations.
In response to Carter’s countersuit, Schuman filed an anti-SLAPP motion, which aims to stop lawsuits attempting to silence valid expressions of free speech in the U.S. A judge is scheduled to hear arguments about this filing Wednesday.
Ruth also filed an anti-SLAPP motion in February, but it was denied in March when a judge said she had not met her burden of proof. Carter’s counterclaim, which includes evidence from over a dozen apparent witnesses, was allowed to continue.
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If you or someone you know is experiencing abuse or is involved in an abusive situation, please visit the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime for help. It is also reachable toll-free at 1-877-232-2610.
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