Singer Bob Dylan has been accused of sexual abuse and grooming of a 12-year-old girl in 1965, according to a new lawsuit filed on Friday. The lawsuit alleges that Dylan supplied the girl with drugs and alcohol. Guardian obtained some Manhattan supreme court papers which allege that the plaintiff (identified at JC) was groomed by Bob Dylan for six weeks in April and May 1965.
The papers accuse the Mr. Tambourine Man singer of ‘befriending and establishing an emotional connection with the plaintiff’. The suit further alleges that Dylan “exploited his status as a musician by grooming JC to gain her trust and to obtain control over her as part of his plan to sexually molest and abuse.”
The suit alleges that Bob Dylan (real name: Robert Zimmerman) abused the plaintiff multiple times with some incidents occurring at Manhattan’s Chelsea hotel. The lawsuit further alleges that "Dylan's predatory, sexual and unlawful acts against Plaintiff amounted to a series of harmful and offensive contacts to Plaintiff's person, all of which were done intentionally by him to her without her consent,” as reported by USA Today.
The plaintiff is also reportedly seeking damages for emotional and physical distress including “humiliation, fright, disassociation, anger, and depression.”
The lawsuit against Bob Dylan was filed a day before the “look-back” window in the New York Child Victims Act (2019) expired. The Act allowed people to file lawsuits against their alleged abuser even if the allegations would be too old in accordance to the statute of limitations.
Dylan’s spokesperson told USA Today that “the 56-year-old claim is untrue and will be vigorously defended.”
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