Bob Dylan sued for allegedly sexually abusing 12-year-old girl in 1965
Legendary crooner Bob Dylan plied a 12-year-old girl with drugs and alcohol before sexually abusing her at his Chelsea Hotel apartment in 1965, an explosive new lawsuit alleges.
The “Blowin’ in the Wind” musician used his star status to
groom, gain the trust of and control the victim “as part of his plan to
sexually molest and abuse” her, according to the Manhattan Supreme Court
papers, which only identify the plaintiff as “J.C.”
“Bob Dylan, over a six-week period between April and May of
1965 befriended and established an emotional connection with the plaintiff,”
say the papers, which were filed late Friday on behalf of J.C., now a
68-year-old woman in Greenwich, Conn.
The suit alleges that Dylan — whose given name is Robert
Allen Zimmerman — established the “connection” to “lower [J.C.’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 alleged abuse by the now-81-year-old “Like a Rolling
Stone” singer and songwriter occurred multiple times, and some of the incidents
took place at the famed Chelsea Hotel, the suit claims.
J.C. says the emotional effects of the abuse have been
long-lasting and that she has had to seek medical treatment for them, according
to the filing.
The fallout she suffered — including depression, humiliation
and anxiety — “are of a permanent and lasting natures and have incapacitated
plaintiff from attending her regular activities,” the suit claims.
J.C. brought allegations of assault, battery, false
imprisonment and infliction of emotional distress against Dylan. She is seeking
unspecified damages and a jury trial.
Dylan’s spokesman told The Post on Monday, “This 56-year-old
claim is untrue and will be vigorously defended.”
J.C.’s lawyer, Daniel Isaacs, said, “The complaint speaks
for itself.”
He declined to comment further.
The suit was filed late Friday, on the eve of the closure of
the New York Child Victims’ Act look-back window. The window allowed victims of
childhood abuse to file suit against
their attackers and the institutions that protected them regardless of how old
the claims were and whether they had since passed beyond the statute of
limitations.
Dylan recently won an unrelated lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme
Court brought by the wife of his one-time collaborator seeking a cut of the
sale of the star’s song collection.
Comments
Post a Comment