Lawsuit filed against Bob Dylan for alleged sexual assault of a minor in 1965

A new lawsuit, filed on Friday, alleges that folk troubadour and Nobel laureate Bob Dylan plied a 12-year-old girl with drugs an alcohol prior to sexually abusing her in 1965.

The 'Blowin' In The Wind' singer reportedly “befriended and established an emotional connection with the plaintiff”, according to the Manhattan supreme court papers. The papers identify the woman as “JC,” and claim that Dylan groomed her over the course of six weeks in April and May 1965.

The lawsuit comes on the final day of the New York State's Child Victim Act Look-Back Window, which allows reprieve for adults time-barred from filing civil suits for abuse suffered as minors. The Act closed on Saturday, 14 August.

A spokesman for Dylan told the BBC "the 56-year-old claim is untrue and will be vigorously defended". Dylanologist and Hot Press writer Anne Margaret Daniel posted a thread on Twitter outlining that Dylan would have been in other parts of America and Europe touring at the time the alleged abuse took place.

In March 1965, Bob Dylan had left his home in Woodstock for an American concert tour with Joan Baez. 1/5 pic.twitter.com/AswpV0RN3v

— Anne Margaret Daniel (@venetianblonde) August 16, 2021

JC is now 68 years of age, living in Connecticut. The lawsuit alleges that Dylan (who would have been 23 or 24 at the time) “exploited his status as a musician by grooming JC to gain her trust and to obtain control over her as part of his plan to sexually molest and abuse” her.

The complaint outlines claims that Dylan established a "connection" with JC to "lower her inhibitions with the object of sexually abusing her, which he did, coupled with the provision of drugs, alcohol and threats of physical violence, leaving her emotionally scarred and psychologically damaged to this day.”

The lawsuit also claims that Dylan abused JC multiple times, and that some of the incidents took place at New York's Chelsea Hotel. JC is seeking unspecified damages as well as a jury trial for the allegations, which include assault, battery, false imprisonment and infliction of emotional distress, saying the aftermath of the abuse has forced her to seek medical treatment on multiple occasions.

If you are struggling with sexual assault or trauma, there are resources available. 

Dublin Rape Crisis Centre
Phone: 1800 778 888

Rape Crisis NI
Phone: 0800 0246 991