The Backstreet Boys singer Nick Carter was accused in a civil lawsuit filed against him in the US on Thursday by a woman with cerebral palsy who alleges that he sexually assaulted her when she was a teenager. After a concert in 2001, Shannon Ruth, now 39, claimed the artist raped her after forcing her to engage in oral sex on him on a tour bus.
The woman said in the press conference, “The last 21 years have been filled with pain, confusion, frustration, shame and self-harm that are a direct result of Nick Carter raping me. Even though I’m autistic and live with cerebral palsy, I believe that nothing has affected me more or had a more lasting impact on my life than what Nick Carter did and said to me.” Along with Ruth, three other women are listed in the combined action, according to Ruth’s attorney Mark J. Boskovich. The attorney asserted that Nick Carter had a long history of mistreating women.
The Backstreet Boys singer denied all of the allegations in a statement issued through his attorney, according to Page Six. He claimed, “This claim about an incident that supposedly took place more than 20 years ago is not only legally meritless but also entirely untrue.” He added, “Unfortunately, for several years now, Ms. Ruth has been manipulated into making false allegations about Nick – and those allegations have changed repeatedly and materially over time. No one should be fooled by a press stunt orchestrated by an opportunistic lawyer, there is nothing to this claim whatsoever, which we have no doubt the courts will quickly realize.”
The musician is being sued for unspecified damages in a civil action that was filed in Las Vegas. Carter has just been accused of assault, only weeks after the terrible death of his younger brother Aaron Carter on November 5. On Carter’s Twitter and Instagram profiles, which featured tributes to her younger brother Aaron, who passed away last month, there was no mention of the case.