Nick Carter Faces Third Lawsuit With Accusations Of Sexual Assault
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Nick Carter is facing his third lawsuit since December accusing him of sexual assault.
The 43-year-old Backstreet Boys singer was sued Monday in federal court in Las Vegas related to sexual battery and intentional and negligent emotional distress, according to a legal complaint obtained by the Los Angeles Times and multiple other outlets.
The woman, who was identified only as A.R. in the 10-page complaint, said Carter forced her to have sex with him three times in Florida in 2003. A.R. was 15 years old at the time and said Carter infected her with HPV. She’s seeking $15,000 in damages.
“We hope that A.R. receives some measure of justice and that this lawsuit will pave the way for other survivors to hold their abusers to account,” attorney Margaret Mabie, who filed the lawsuit on A.R.’s behalf, told the LA Times in a statement Wednesday.
Carter faces a string of lawsuits accusing him of sexual assault. Shannon “Shay” Ruth, along with three anonymous women, filed a lawsuit in December. Ruth alleged Carter sexually assaulted her in February 2001 after a Backstreet Boys concert in Tacoma, Washington — and infected her with HPV. Ruth was 17 at the time; Carter was 21.
In April, singer Melissa Schuman, who was in the girl group Dream, filed a lawsuit that claimed Carter used his celebrity status to “groom, manipulate, expoit and sexually assault” her in 2002 in Santa Monica. She was 18 at the time; Carter was 22.
“Nick is looking forward to the evidence being presented and the truth about these malicious schemes coming to light,” Carter attorney Dale A. Hayes Jr. told the LA Times in response to A.R.’s lawsuit.
Carter’s representatives did not immediately respond to a HuffPost request for comment Thursday.
Nick Carter has denied accusations in all three lawsuits that have emerged against him since December.
Hayes, who is also representing Carter in the lawsuit filed by Ruth, told the LA Times that A.R.’s complaint is “ridiculous.” He plans to combine both suits into one case and cited police reports from 2004 confirming authorities had declined to charge Carter.
“Abusers can take notice that just because they avoided prison doesn’t mean they don’t have to answer to a jury for their actions,” John Kawai, another attorney representing A.R., told The Guardian on Thursday.
In the lawsuit, A.R. said she knew Carter as a family friend and was given alcohol despite her age before being assaulted in August 2003. Days later, he allegedly forced her to give him oral sex. Carter invited three men to watch him assault her again that October, according to the suit.
A.R. said Carter told her after the first assault to keep the incident a secret.
Carter recently spoke about the first two lawsuits, telling ET he was “really happy with the way things are going” and claimed to be looking “forward to finally talking about it.”
Carter has countersued both Ruth and Schuman for $2.3 million in Clark County, Nevada, per the outlet. He claimed the women were engaged in a conspiracy to extort him for money and were responsible for untold millions in potential Backstreet Boys revenue that was lost over the years.
ABC canceled “A Very Backstreet Holiday,” a Christmas special featuring the band and guests including Seth Rogen, days after Ruth’s December filing.
Need help? Visit RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Online Hotline or the National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s website.
