Nick Carter denies sexually assaulting 17-year-old fan in 2001

Backstreet Boys singer Nick Carter has been sued for sexual battery by a woman who claims she was assaulted as a teenager in 2001, which he denies.

The woman, named Shannon Ruth, reportedly filed the lawsuit in Clerk County, Nevada on Thursday (8 December).

The lawsuit, which has been seen by People, Rolling Stone and TMZ, alleges that Carter invited Ruth onto the band’s tour bus while they were playing in Washington.

Ruth, who says she lives with autism and cerebral palsy, claims Carter gave her a pink drink that he dubbed “VIP juice” that tasted alcoholic, before insisting she perform oral sex on him.

The documents allege that Carter then raped Ruth, who says she contracted HPV after the incident.

In a statement sent to The Independent, Carter’s attorney Michael Holtz vehemently denied any wrongdoing on behalf of his client.

It read: “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.”

At a press conference with her lawyer Mark Boskovich in Beverly Hills on Thursday, Ruth told cameras that “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 nothing has affected me more… than what Nick Carter did to me,” she added.

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Carter was previously accused of rape in 2017 by Dream singer Melissa Schuman, who alleged that the incident occurred when she was 18 and he was 22.

Carter denied Schuman’s claims, saying their relations were “consensual”. and the Los Angeles District Attorney's office later declined the case in 2018, citing an expiration on the statute of limitations.

This new lawsuit comes just over a month since Carter’s brother Aaron died at the age of 34.

If you have been raped or sexually assaulted, you can contact your nearest Rape Crisis organisation for specialist, independent and confidential support. For more information, visit their website here.