Nick Carter: Backstreet Boys star accused of raping underage autistic fan in lawsuit; responds

Backstreet Boys musician Nick Carter has been accused of sexually assaulting a then-17-year-old autistic girl back in 2001 in a recent lawsuit filed against him, as per reports. Carter has now issued a statement through his lawyer, denying the claims made in this lawsuit.

Backstreet Boys musician Nick Carter has been slammed with a lawsuit for allegedly sexually assaulting an autistic girl who was all of 17 at the time, as described by her during a press conference. Shannon “Shay” Ruth, now 39, has also claimed through her attorney Mark J. Boskovich that there are three other women who have accused Nick Carter of allegedly abusing them in a separate joint lawsuit.

“The last 21 years have been filled with pain, confusion, frustration, shame and self-harm that are a direct result of Nick Carter raping me. Even though I’m autistic and live with cerebral palsy, I believe that nothing has affected me more or had a more lasting impact on my life than what Nick Carter did and said to me. Nick Carter has a long history of abusing women,” Ruth’s lawyer said in a press conference on Thursday following the filing of the aforementioned lawsuit.

However, Nick Carter has released a statement of his own and denied the accusations in a statement released through his lawyer.

"This claim about an incident that supposedly took place more than 20 years ago is not only legally meritless but also entirely untrue. 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. No one should be fooled by a press stunt orchestrated by an opportunistic lawyer – there is nothing to this claim whatsoever, which we have no doubt the courts will quickly realize,” Nick Carter said, according to Page Six.

Tragically, this lawsuit has come against Nick Carter just a month after he lost his younger brother Aaron Carter on November 5.