Bob Dylan accused of plying 12-year-old girl with drink and drugs before sexually abusing her, lawsuit claims
Bob Dylan accused of plying 12-year-old girl with drink and drugs before sexually abusing her, lawsuit claims
Bob Dylan is accused of plying a 12-year-old girl with drugs and alcohol before sexually abusing her at his New York apartment in 1965, a new lawsuit alleges.
The American singer-songwriter, now 80, groomed the child “as part of his plan to sexually molest and abuse” her, according to papers filed at the Manhattan Supreme Court.
It is claimed that the Blowin’ in the Wind singer “befriended and established an emotional connection with the plaintiff,” during a six-week period between April and May of 1965, just after she turned 12.
The woman is identified as “JC” and is seeking unspecified damages and a jury trial, according to Page Six, who first reported the lawsuit.
“Dylan exploited his status as a musician by grooming JC to gain her trust and to obtain control over her,” the lawsuit claims.
It is alleged that Dylan - whose real name is Robert Allen Zimmerman - “lowered JC’s inhibitions with the object of sexually abusing her, which he did, coupled with the provision of drugs, alcohol and threats of physical violence, leaving her emotionally scarred and psychologically damaged to this day.”
The lawsuit claims that she is the victim of assault, battery and false imprisonment, while also alleging that she had to seek medical treatment for the emotional distress.
The alleged abuse is said to have occurred multiple times including at the Chelsea Hotel in the year that Dylan would marry his first wife Sara, the lawsuit says.
The fallout the plaintiff has endured includes depression, humiliation and anxiety, and “are of a permanent and lasting nature,” it is claimed.
It has also “incapacitated the plaintiff from attending her regular activities.”
Dylan, a father-of-six, who has a Nobel Prize in literature and is worth $350 million has denied the claims against him.
In a statement to People magazine, a spokesperson for the musician said: "The 56-year-old claim is untrue and will be vigorously defended."
Dylan would have been 24 when the alleged abuse took place, with the accuser saying she was half his age.
By 24, the singer had dropped out of college, moved to New York and released five albums, including his debut The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan and the platinum selling Bringing It All Back Home which hit number one in the UK.
Just a year later, in 1966, he released Blonde on Blonde which was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, and is ranked number 38 in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list.
The lawsuit was filed on Friday, on the eve of the closure of the New York Child Victims’ Act look-back window.
This window allowed alleged victims of childhood abuse to file suits against the alleged offenders regardless of how old the claims were or whether they were beyond the statute of limitations.
It is the same window that was used by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who says she was sexually abused by Prince Andrew when she was a minor - a claim he strenuously denies.
Ms Giuffre, now 38, claims that she was recruited as a teenager by British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell and assaulted by Epstein, the Duke of York and a number of the late paedophile financier’s high-profile friends.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages against Prince Andrew. Ms Maxwell denies any wrongdoing and is set to go on trial later this year.
Reference: The Telegraph: Jamie Johnson