Singer Bob Dylan is accused of drugging and abusing a 12-year-old female in New York 56 years ago.
A new lawsuit filed in the Manhattan Supreme Court alleges that Dylan, "befriended and established an emotional connection with" a woman who was only identified in the suit as J.C. in order 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."
According to the suit, the alleged sexual misconduct occurred "between April and May of 1965."
The suit alleges that Dylan used drugs and alcohol "as part of his plan to sexually molest and abuse" the girl, who was 12 years old in 1965. The suit said that some of the alleged sexual assaults occurred at Dylan's apartment in New York's Chelsea Hotel.
According to the lawsuit, which used Dylan's full name, Robert Allen Zimmerman, "exploited his status as a musician by grooming J.C. to gain her trust and to obtain control over her as part of his plan to sexually molest and abuse J.C."
"The defendant, Dylan, exploited his status as a musician to provide J.C. with alcohol and drugs and sexually abuse her multiple times," the suit added.
The suit also states that J.C. has been "emotionally scarred and psychologically damaged to this day," following the alleged misconduct.
J.C. is seeking unspecified damages for the allegations as well as a trial against Dylan.
While speaking with Newsweek on Monday, attorney Daniel Isaacs, who is representing J.C. said that "the complaint speaks for itself."
"We will prove our allegations in a court of law," Isaacs added.
According to the suit, the injuries J.C. suffered from the alleged sexual misconduct "are of a permanent and lasting nature and have incapacitated Plaintiff from attending her regular activities."
Additionally, the lawsuit also brought up claims of false imprisonment and assault against Dylan. The suit said that Dylan's alleged misconduct "amounted to willful detention of Plaintiff without authority of law, all of which were done intentionally by him to her without her consent."
The lawsuit was filed on Friday, which was just one day prior to the New York's Child Victims Act filing deadline. In 2019, New York created a one-year period allowing victims of sexual assault to file claims against their alleged abusers. The act allowed for the claims to be filed in the state regardless of how old the claims were. According to the New York City Bar, prior to the passage of the Act, "survivors of child sexual abuse had from one (1) to five (5) years to bring a civil lawsuit against their abuser(s)."
Newsweek's attempts to reach Dylan's representatives were unsuccessful at press time.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Matthew Impelli is a Newsweek staff writer based in New York. His focus is reporting social issues and crime. In ... Read more
