Steven Tyler has denied allegations that he sexually assaulted a minor in the 1970s. The Aerosmith lead singer claimed that the underage girl consented to the relationship.
In December, a lawsuit was launched against Tyler by plaintiff Julia Misley — formerly known as Julia Holcomb. Misley accuses Tyler of starting a sexual relationship with her shortly after her 16th birthday in 1973. At the time, Tyler was 25 years old.
Misley alleges that she met Tyler at an Aerosmith concert in Portland, Oregon. The teen claims that Tyler took her back to her hotel room after the concert.
The plaintiff says that she was “powerless to resist” the rock star, who had “power, fame, and substantial financial ability.”
Tyler “performed various acts of criminal sexual conduct upon Plaintiff,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit claimed Tyler “coerced and persuaded” Misley into believing they had “a romantic love affair.”
The lawsuit claims Tyler provided alcohol and drugs to Misley.
In the fall of 1975, Misley was impregnated by Tyler, according to court documents. The lawsuit accuses the former “American Idol” judge of preventing Misley from obtaining prenatal care for the unborn child and forced her to get an abortion. The singer allegedly threatened to not support her if she didn’t get an abortion.
Misley reportedly left Tyler and moved back to her hometown of Portland to restart her life as a devout Catholic.
Misley’s lawsuit accuses Tyler of sexual assault, sexual battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The suit against the rocker was filed a few days before the statute of limitations on reporting childhood sexual abuse crimes would have expired.
The lawsuit directly quotes Tyler’s comments in his 2011 memoir “Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?”
In Tyler’s memoir, the Aerosmith frontman talks about a relationship with an unnamed 16-year-old girl. Tyler boasted of convincing the girl’s mother to grant him guardianship of her underage daughter.
“Her parents fell in love with me, signed a paper over for me to have custody, so I wouldn’t get arrested if I took her out of state,” he wrote. “I took her on tour with me.”
Tyler said in his book that he “almost took a teen bride.”
Last month, Tyler officially denied the accusations listed in the lawsuit. The singer offered 24 defenses against the decades-old accusations, including that the minor consented to the relationship at the time.
Tyler argued that he had “immunity or qualified immunity” because he was officially the girl’s “caregiver and/or guardian.”
Tyler declared that Misley “has not suffered any injury or damage as a result of any action by Defendant.”
The Aerosmith singer requested that “the Complaint be dismissed with prejudice and in its entirety.”
Misley’s attorney, Jeff Anderson, responded by calling Tyler’s defense “a sham legal guardianship to avoid prosecution for sex crimes.”
Anderson said Tyler and his legal team were “gaslighting her by falsely claiming that she ‘consented’ and that the pain he inflicted was ‘justified and in good faith.’”
“Tyler has spent the past 40 years continually hurting, shaming, profiting from, and retraumatizing this courageous survivor,” Anderson added.
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