Bob Dylan sued for alleged sexual abuse of minor

American folk singer-songwriter Bob Dylan has been sued by an unnamed woman for allegedly sexually abusing her in 1965. In the lawsuit, the woman identified only as J.C. said she was 12 years old at the time.

Filed late Friday with the New York Supreme Court, the civil lawsuit alleges Dylan, 80, sexually abused her at his New York apartment over six weeks, "leaving her emotionally scarred and psychologically damaged to this day."

It added that he "exploited his status as a musician to provide J.C. with alcohol and drugs and sexually abuse her multiple times."

Spokesperson denies allegations

A spokesperson for Dylan, who was in his mid-20s at the time, has refuted the allegations: "The 56-year-old claim is untrue and will be vigorously defended."

The lawsuit against Dylan was filed a day before a New York state deadline for filing claims under the Child Victims Act closed. The 2019 law allowed victims of abuse to sue their alleged attackers in cases that were too old to pursue due to a statute of limitations. 

Last week, the act was used by an accuser of late US financier Jeffrey Epstein to sue Prince Andrews for alleged sexual abuse. He is Queen Elizabeth II's second son.

The plaintiff in the Dylan case is seeking unspecified damages.

Dylan emerged onto the folk scene in New York in the early 1960s and went on to sell 125 million records globally. In 2016, he won the Nobel Prize for Literature "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition."

He is most widely known for his hits that include "Blowin' In The Wind," "The Times They Are a-Changin'," and "Like A Rolling Stone."

see/sri (Reuters, AFP)