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Bob Dylan, 24 years old, performs on a British TV show on June 1, 1965.
NewsMadura
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A lawsuit filed in New York City alleges that legendary singer-songwriter Bob Dylan sexually assaulted a 12-year-old girl in 1965, according to court documents filed Friday.
The now 68-year-old woman, identified in the lawsuit as JC, claims the singer befriended and developed an emotional bond with her “over a six-week period”, eventually sexually assaulting her multiple times between April and May. from 1965 when she was 12.
In a statement to USA Today, a spokesperson for Dylan said Monday that “the 56-year-old claim is untrue and will be vigorously defended.” NewsMadura has reached out to two publicists representing Dylan for comment.
JC’s attorneys allege that Dylan befriended JC “to lower her inhibitions for the purpose of sexually abusing her, which he did, coupled with supplying drugs, alcohol, and threats of physical violence, leaving her to this day.” left emotional scars and psychologically damaged today,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit further alleges that Dylan used his celebrity musician status by “grooming JC to gain her trust and control over her” and alleges that he sexually assaulted her “at certain times” in his apartment at the Hotel Chelsea in New York. York City.
When NewsMadura reached out to him, a JC lawyer declined to say how she met Dylan and declined to comment on the nature of sexual abuse claims.
“The complaint speaks for itself. We will prove all charges in a court of law,” attorney Daniel Isaacs said. “The complaint was made after much investigation and thorough investigation and there is no doubt that she was with him at the Hotel Chelsea.”
JC, who now lives in Greenwich, Connecticut, said in the lawsuit that she has suffered and continues to suffer “severe and grave mental distress, fear, humiliation and shame, as well as economic losses” and is demanding compensatory and punitive damages from Dylan.
The lawsuit was filed a day before the New York Child Victims Act expired on August 14, 2021. JC’s attorney told NewsMadura that the lawsuit was filed under the law and that it “gave her an opportunity to seek redress.”
Born Robert Allen Zimmerman in Duluth, Minnesota, Dylan turned 80 on May 24.
He has sold more than 125 million records throughout his career. Some of his most famous songs are ‘The Times They Are a-Changin’, ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ and ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’.
In 2008, Dylan won a special Pulitzer Prize award for “his profound influence on popular music and American culture, characterized by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power.” In 2016, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for “creating new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.”
Toby Lyles and Brian Vitagliano of NewsMadura contributed to this report.
