Nick Carter accused of raping underage fan with autism in 2001
Backstreet Boys singer Nick Carter was accused Thursday of raping an underage fan with autism and cerebral palsy after a 2001 concert.
Shannon “Shay” Ruth, 39, filed a civil suit seeking $30 million in damages for the assault that she says permanently traumatized her.
Ruth said she was just 17 years old when Carter invited her on his tour bus after seeing her waiting in the line for his autograph. She claims the Backstreet Boy gave her “funny tasting drink” called “VIP juice” and forced her to give him oral sex in the bus bathroom.
Carter then took her to the back of the bus and raped her, she alleges.
“I pleaded with him over and over again to stop,” Shay recounted at a news conference in Beverly Hills, California, announcing the suit. “I was so upset that I cried throughout the ordeal. Afterward, he called me a ‘retarded little b—h’ and threatened me.”
“He also said he’d turn people against me because he’s Nick Carter and he would wreck my life,” she added.
Ruth, who is on the autism spectrum and has a mild case of cerebral palsy, contracted HPV from the rape, her lawyers alleged.
Attorneys representing Ruth claimed there are other victims as well.
One victim identified as Doe 1 says Carter orally and vaginally raped her in 2003, giving her HPV, according to the complaint filed in Clark County District Court, Nevada, where Carter lives.
Another victim identified as Doe 2 said she and Carter had sex multiple times when she was 15-years-old. Court documents claim the singer, then 23, knew the girl’s age and that he gave her alcohol.
Carter, now 43, is also accused of sexually assaulting a woman identified as Doe 3 at a house party in Key West, Florida — and lawyers for Ruth encouraged other women with information to reach out.
Carter was also reportedly accused in 2018 of sexually assaulting a former member of the girl group Dream when he was 22; he called the encounter a consensual interaction.
His representatives did not immediately return the Post’s request for comment. He has not been criminally charged.
“Shay is determined to bring Carter to justice,” Ruth’s lawyer Mark J. Boskovic said at the news conference. “She believes it’s worth it to protect other women.”
The suit comes just a month after younger brother, pop star Aaron Carter, 34, was found dead in his bathtub.