Steven Tyler Denies All Claims in Sexual Assault Lawsuit as Lawyer Accuses Him of 'Gaslighting'

Julia Misley, formerly known as Julia Holcomb, filed a sexual assault lawsuit against the Aerosmith frontman in December

Steven Tyler is denying all allegations stated in a recent lawsuit that accused him of sexual assault of a minor.

In his response to the lawsuit, which the Aerosmith lead singer, 75, filed last week in a Los Angeles County Superior Court, he stated a lengthy set of defenses to the claims against him. Meanwhile, plaintiff Julia Misley's lawyer suggests that the rocker is simply "gaslighting" her.

In the new filing, Tyler states that the plaintiff, formerly known as Julia Holcomb, consented to their sexual relationship and he had immunity as her legal guardian at the time the alleged events occurred. He also requested for the lawsuit to be dismissed entirely, according to the documents obtained by PEOPLE.

Tyler's answer to Misley's complaint lists 24 affirmative defenses denying all of her allegations. In part, Tyler alleges that Misley "has not suffered any injury or damage as a result of any action by Defendant," and "if it is determined that Plaintiff has been damaged, then any such damages were not caused by Defendant."

A representative for Tyler did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.

Related:Steven Tyler Accused of Sexual Assault and Battery of a Minor in New Lawsuit

His response comes three months after Misley — who had a sexual relationship with Tyler when she was a teen in the '70s — filed a lawsuit against Tyler for sexual assault, sexual battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Misley filed the lawsuit just days before the Dec. 31 deadline for California's Child Victims Act, which lifted the statute of limitations on reporting childhood sexual abuse crimes.

PEOPLE obtained a copy of the complaint which does not identify Tyler by name, but whose allegations align with comments the rocker has made publicly in his 2011 memoir Does the Noise in My Head Bother You? about a relationship with an unnamed 16-year-old girl. Misley later named Tyler directly in a statement released following the filing of the complaint.

In the complaint, Misley — who "directly quotes" from Tyler's memoir — alleges that Tyler was able to convince her mother to grant guardianship over her when she was 16 years old, which provided a means for the star to allegedly have a sexual relationship with her. She alleges that she was "powerless to resist" Tyler, who had "power, fame and substantial financial ability."

In the memoir, which does not name Misley, Tyler wrote that he "almost took a teen bride" because "her parents fell in love with me, signed a paper over for me to have custody, so I wouldn't get arrested if I took her out of state. I took her on tour with me."

When Misley became pregnant in 1975, she claimed Tyler convinced her to obtain an abortion, telling her that a recent apartment fire would have harmed the baby due to smoke inhalation and a lack of oxygen. A medical professional told Misley that the baby was likely unharmed, the complaint alleged.

Misley says she eventually left Tyler and returned home to Portland after the abortion, married, and became a devout Catholic.

In a statement from Misley's attorney Jeff Anderson, he called Tyler's response "gaslighting" and said he was using "a sham legal guardianship to avoid prosecution for sex crimes."

"He's heaping more pain on Misley and gaslighting her by falsely claiming that she 'consented' and that the pain he inflicted was 'justified and in good faith,'" Anderson said in a statement. "Never have we encountered a legal defense as obnoxious and potentially dangerous as the one that Tyler and his lawyers launched this week: Their claim that legal guardianship is consent and permission for sexual abuse."

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.

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