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Backstreet Boys’ Nick Carter Sued for Alleged Sexual Battery of a Minor: Details
Backstreet Boys singer Nick Carter is being sued for allegedly sexually assaulting a minor in 2001.
According to court documents obtained by In Touch, Shannon Ruth claimed that she was 17 at the time when Carter, 42, allegedly invited her to his tour bus following a concert. After asking her if she wanted a drink, Ruth claimed she had asked for apple juice, but Carter allegedly gave her a “red-colored drink,” which Carter called “VIP juice.”
Ruth, who has cerebral palsy and autism, now claims that she thinks the beverage was a cocktail of cranberry juice and alcohol, per the docs. She then claimed that Carter forced her to perform oral sex on him and then assaulted her afterward, threatening to turn others against her if she came forward with the allegations. Ruth alleged that she had contracted human papillomavirus (HPV) after the incident and suffered severe trauma and emotional distress.
In response to the lawsuit, Michael Holtz, Carter’s attorney, told In Touch in a Thursday, December 8, statement that the claims against his client are “entirely untrue” and are “legally meritless.”
“Unfortunately, for several years now, Ms. Ruth has been manipulated into making false allegations about Nick – and those allegations have changed repeatedly and materially over time,” Holtz stated. “There is nothing to this claim whatsoever, which we have no doubt the courts will quickly realize.”
This isn’t the first time Carter has been accused of sexual assault. In November 2017, former Dream band member Melissa Schuman claimed via her personal blog in a since-deleted post that she was raped by the Jamestown, New York, native.
In her statement, Schuman alleged that she was 18 years old when Carter invited her and a friend over to his Santa Monica apartment. After allegedly “provid[ing] liquor” to the two young women, Schuman claimed that the “Everybody” singer brought her to another room to listen to music he was working on at the time.
“Naturally we started to kiss,” she claimed. “He was aware that I was a virgin, and that I held to religious conservative Christian values. I was vocal about this. Everyone knew about this, including those who repped me.”
Schuman continued in her statement, “I told him I didn’t want to go any further. He didn’t care. … He proceeded to perform oral sex on me. I told him to stop, but he didn’t. So, I turned off the bathroom light so I wouldn’t see anything. He kept turning the light back on because he told me he wanted to look at me.”
“It was evident to me, that I couldn’t leave,” Schuman wrote. “He was stronger and much bigger than me, and there was no way I would be able to open that door or have anyone help me. My friend couldn’t help me. I didn’t even know where she was.”
Carter denied the allegations at the time and insisted in a statement obtained by CNN that he “was always respectful and supportive” of Schuman.
“Melissa never expressed to me while we were together or at any time since that anything we did was not consensual,” the MTV Video Music Award winner said.
Carter was not charged after Schuman came forward.
Schuman later wrote in a since-deleted blog post that she and her family “were well aware of the likelihood that [her] case was not prosecutable due to the statute of limitations in California regarding rape, which was modified in 2016.”
“It gives me great solace to know that my testimony is fully documented, investigated and sealed for the future if needed by law enforcement,” she continued. “Speaking out was the best thing I could have ever done for myself, and I hope it inspires others to do the same if it feels right for them.”
If you or anyone you know has been sexually abused, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). A trained staff member will provide confidential, judgment-free support as well as local resources to assist in healing, recovering and more.
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