A Los Angeles County judge has ruled that the California-based child sex abuse claims against Steven Tyler will proceed to trial.
As reported by Rolling Stone, while the California trial will go ahead, allegations tied to incidents in Oregon, Washington, and Massachusetts have been dismissed.
The ruling follows a series of hearings regarding the lawsuit brought by Julia Misley, who accused the Aerosmith frontman of sexual abuse dating back to 1973.
The case centres on Misley’s allegations that she was abused by Tyler when she was a high school sophomore and he was 25. Misley’s claims were initially filed in December 2022, citing incidents in several states. The judge’s decision means only the claims arising from alleged abuse in California will advance, a partial victory for Tyler, who sought to have the entire case dismissed.
Judge Patricia A. Young made her intentions clear during the hearing, stating, “I’m not moving the trial.” Young indicated she would grant Tyler’s motion to terminate the non-California claims, which would prevent them from being refiled. The judge explained that while she needed additional time to craft a tailored written ruling, her focus would be on narrowing the lawsuit’s causes of action—sexual battery, sexual assault, and intentional infliction of emotional distress—without dismissing the California claims altogether.
Misley’s legal team argued that Tyler should be held accountable under the laws of each state where alleged abuse occurred. They also cited California’s Child Victims Act, a 2019 law that temporarily lifted the statute of limitations and provided a three-year window for survivors of childhood sexual abuse to bring claims. The judge agreed in part, noting that California has a vested interest in enforcing its laws, regardless of the legality of the conduct in another state. Judge Young stated, “California absolutely has an interest in people coming into our state, committing a crime here, such as childhood sexual abuse, and then leaving again.”
Tyler denied the allegations and argued that Massachusetts law, where the age of consent was 16, should govern the relationship. He claimed that the majority of their time together was spent in Boston and that his guardianship arrangement with Misley, as detailed in his 2011 memoir Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?, shielded him from legal repercussions. In the memoir, Tyler wrote, “I was so in love, I almost took a teen bride. I went and slept at her parents’ house for a couple of nights, and her parents fell in love with me, signed papers over for me to have custody, so I wouldn’t get arrested if I took her out of state.” Tyler later abandoned the legal defence that he had immunity as her caretaker or guardian, after legal experts questioned its validity.
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