Nick Carter sued for sexual assault, battery by singer Melissa Schuman
A civil lawsuit has been brought against singer Nick Carter, five years after a former girl group star Melissa Schuman accused him of rape.
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Nick Carter is being sued for sexual assault and battery by former Dream singer Melissa Schuman.
Schuman alleged in court documents from the civil lawsuit obtained Tuesday by New York Post that in 2003 – when she was 18 and he was 22 – the Backstreet Boys member performed oral sex on her against her will before forcing her to reciprocate.
Carter, now 43, then allegedly proceeded to take her virginity, she claimed, even though she told him she was saving herself for marriage.
TMZ was first to report the news.
Schuman, now 38, initially accused the pop star of raping her at his Santa Monica, California, apartment in November 2017, saying “the Harvey Weinstein allegations” were “a big trigger” for her.
The following February, she 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.
However, a California law that went into effect earlier this year revived sexual assault claims and extended the statute of limitations for reporting them.
Not only has Carter repeatedly denied Schuman’s allegations of nonconsensual sexual contact, but in February, he also filed a countersuit against her and Shannon Ruth, who, in December 2022, sued him for allegedly raping her on a tour bus in 2001 when she was 17.
In his countersuit for defamation and extortion, the boy band singer claimed the two women were involved in a “conspiracy” against him.
After Schuman took her claims to court, Carter’s lawyer, Liane K. Wakayama, told Page Six in a statement: “Melissa Schuman 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.”
Ms Wakayama said: “A judge in Nevada recently ruled, after reviewing the extensive evidence we laid out, that there are strong grounds for Nick Carter to proceed with his lawsuit against Ms Schuman for plotting to damage, defame and extort Nick, his associates, his friends and his family.”
“In light of our progress in Nevada, this kind of response is at once both predictable and pathetic,” she said. “But this PR stunt won’t shake Nick from his determination to hold Ms Schuman and her co-conspirators to account for the immeasurable pain and suffering their extortionate conduct has caused.”
Meanwhile, Schuman said in a statement: “I’ve 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. I’m fighting to make the music industry a safer place to work and perform.”
This article was originally published in the New York Post and reproduced with permission
Originally published as Nick Carter sued for sexual assault, battery by singer Melissa Schuman
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