Nick Carter has been sued for sexual battery.
According to court documents obtained by Us Weekly, now-39-year-old Shannon Ruth has filed a sexual battery lawsuit against the Backstreet Boys singer for allegedly raping her when she was underage after a 2001 concert.
The Thursday filing claimed Carter invited Ruth onto his tour bus in Tacoma, Washington and offered her a drink, before exposing himself to her and having her perform oral sex on him “under duress”. She was 17 years old at the time.
Ruth, who The Guardian reported has autism and cerebral palsy, is also suing the musician for intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress. The publication further reported that, according to the documents, Ruth was a virgin at the time and contracted HPV after the encounter.
“This claim about an incident that supposedly took place more than 20 years ago is not only legally meritless but also entirely untrue,” a representative for Carter responded in a statement. “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.”
Dream singer Melissa Schuman and friends of Paris Hilton have also come forward accusing Carter of sexual abuse. The District Attorney’s office declined to press charges against Carter for Schuman’s case in 2018, noting the statute of limitations had passed.
