United States: Bob Dylan prosecuted for alleged sexual assault of a minor in 1965

Published on : 08/17/2021 – 4:43 PM

Bob Dylan is being sued in New York City court after a complaint, filed Friday, August 13, by a woman who claims the singer sexually assaulted her nearly 60 years ago, when she was 12 years old.

The complaint claims that the American musician assaulted the complainant, of whom only the initials JC are mentioned, over a six-week period between April and May 1965.

In a statement, spokesperson for Bob Dylan said “the 56-year-old accusation is false and will be vigorously fought.”

The singer, now 80 years old, would have “abused his status as a musician to supply alcohol and drugs to JC, and to sexually assault him on several occasions”, supports the complaint, which also accuses Bob Dylan for physically threatening the girl.

Some of the alleged assaults allegedly took place in the apartment Bob Dylan owns in New York City, in the notorious Chelsea Hotel, according to the complaint.

“Emotional trauma”

The Complainant claims that Bob Dylan caused her “serious psychological damage and emotional trauma”. The amount of damages claimed is not specified.

The complaint was filed a day ahead of a deadline under a New York state law that allows victims of sexual abuse to prosecute their alleged abusers, regardless of when the act was allegedly committed.

Last week, a plaintiff in the case involving late financier Jeffrey Epstein used the law to file a lawsuit against Prince Andrew, Queen Elizabeth II’s second son, for alleged sexual assault.

Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016 for “having created new poetic expressions in the great American tradition of song”, Bob Dylan is considered the greatest singer-songwriter of all time. Since the start of his career in the early 1960s, Bob Dylan has sold over 125 million albums worldwide.

With AFP