Content Warning: This article about Bob Dylan discusses sexual abuse. If you or someone you know is affected by the following story, you are not alone. To speak to someone, you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14, or 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732.
A woman has accused Bob Dylan of sexually abusing her when she was 12-years-old in a lawsuit filed last Friday, August 13th, in New York.
As Rolling Stone report, the woman, identified as “J.C.”, claims that Dylan abused her for several weeks between April and May 1965 — when Dylan was then 23 or 24 years old. With some alleged incidents taking place in his Chelsea Hotel apartment in New York.
The suit claims that Dylan “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.”
According to the suit, Dylan allegedly established a “connection” with JC to “lower her inhibitions with the object of sexually abusing her, which he did, coupled with the provision of drugs, alcohol, and threats of physical violence.”
As a result of the alleged abuse, the plaintiff has sustained physical and psychological injuries, including “severe emotional and psychological distress, humiliation, fright, disassociation, anger, depression, anxiety, personal turmoil and loss of faith, a severe shock to her nervous system, physical pain and mental anguish, and emotional and psychological damage.”
J.C. is seeking compensatory damages for an unspecified amount to be determined by a jury at trial.
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The lawsuit was filed on the final day of the New York State’s Child Victim Act look-back window, which closed Saturday, August 14th. The law, enacted in 2019, allows survivors of childhood abuse to sue their abusers regardless of whether the statute of limitations had passed on the alleged incidents.
A representative for Dylan told Rolling Stone that “the 56-year-old claim is untrue and will be vigorously defended.”
This story is developing…
