Nick Carterone of the members of the popular band Backstreet Boys, sued Thursday against Shannon Ruhtthe woman who accused him last year of sexually abusing her after a concert back in 2001 Melissa Schumann, a former teenage pop singer with the group Dream, who also accused him of rape in 2017.
The 43-year-old singer said women have taken advantage of the #MeToo movement to orchestrate “a conspiracy against you for monetary gain“, as reported by the portal Page Six.
Speaking to Page Six, Shannon Ruth’s attorney struck back, telling the source, “Why should Nick Carter be believed with his long history of abusing women? A jury will weigh the evidence and decide.”
Nick Carter claims in his counterclaim that Ruth and Schuman were allegedly involved in a “five-year conspiracy” to “defame and extort him”.
The singer claims the woman who sued him was instructed by her father and one of his daughters, Jerome and Melissa Schuman, to make false claims about him as part of an extortion attempt. He also criticizes the three for trying to take advantage of the #MeToo movement.
As reported by the TMZ portal, which ensures that it has also obtained access to the lawsuit, the singer has counter-sued the women for more than $2.35 milliona figure that the Backstreet boys would lose after several cancellations and loss of sponsors after the complaint against Nick Carter was made public.
The case
In December, a woman with autism and mild cerebral palsy sued Nick Carter, accusing him of raping her in 2001, when she was 17.
Shannon Ruth, now 39, publicly came out at a press conference in San Jose, California, along with her lawyer.
Mark Boskovich, the woman’s attorney, says Ruth met Carter in February 2001 after a Backstreet Boys concert in Tacoma, Washington, when he approached her for an autograph.
Carter would invite her to join them on a tour bus, where he would treat her to a drink described as “VIP juice”.
“After drinking the juice, Carter took her to the bus bathroom and told her to get on her knees and expose her genitals and order her to perform sexual acts,” Boskovich said.
“She was a virgin and cried during this ordeal, but that didn’t stop it,” the lawyer added. “Afterward, Carter took her to a bed in the back of the bus, pushed and raped her despite her repeated requests to stop (…). She was rude, to say the least.”
“Even though I’m autistic and live with cerebral palsy, I think nothing has affected me more in my life than what Nick Carter has done to me,” said Ruth, who sobbed uncontrollably during the media briefing. .
The woman also said that after the attack Carter called her a “retarded bitch”, as well as leaving bruises on her arm and infecting her with HPV.
Boskovich explained that the statements of three other women, for now anonymous and with similar cases, were included in the civil suit to obtain financial compensation.
The young woman claimed that she had not reported the singer earlier for fear of reprisals. “I hope that by going public today, other women will find the courage to speak up and hold Nick Carter accountable.”
mfb
Source: Clarin
