Backstreet Boys singer Nick Carter responds to sex assault allegations in Las Vegas court

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Backstreet Boys singer Nick Carter has filed a counterclaim against a woman suing him for sexual assault when she was 15 years old, saying in part the sex was consensual and that the allegations are a targeted conspiracy against him, documents said.

The now-adult woman identified only as “A.R.,” alleges Carter raped her in a bedroom on his yacht, documents said. The lawsuit also claims Carter “instructed A.R. to keep his sexual abuse of her a secret.”

The lawsuit, filed in August in Clark County District Court because of Carter’s Las Vegas address, accuses Carter of sexually assaulting the then-teenager from Pennsylvania on multiple occasions in 2003, documents said. Carter was 22 and 23 at the time.

Carter’s counterclaim filed last week indicates he and A.R. had consensual sex at his family’s home. Carter’s attorneys also said A.R. had sex with Nick Carter’s younger brother, Aaron, documents said.

Law enforcement officials declined to pursue charges against Carter, in part because A.R. “[portrayed] that she was 18 and the members of the Carter family [believed] that she was eighteen years of age,” Carter’s counterclaim said.

A.R.’s lawsuit also claims Carter “knowingly provided alcohol and drugs to then-minor A.R. on this occasion and caused her to become intoxicated on his yacht,” documents said. It also claims Carter infected the teenager with human papillomavirus or HPV, the lawsuit said. Carter has denied the allegations.

A separate lawsuit filed in December 2022 alleges Carter raped Shannon “Shay” Ruth when she was 17. Ruth alleges Carter, who was 21 at the time, gave her alcohol, raped her, and threatened her if she told anyone, documents said. In his counterclaim, Carter’s attorneys said Carter does not believe he “even met Ruth” and he is “certain that he was never alone on his tour bus with Ruth, did not have sex with Ruth, did not grab her arm, and did not sexually assault or bully her,” documents said.

Carter was also accused of rape by Dream singer Melissa Schuman, who claimed he raped her in 2003. The statute of limitations expired before charges could be filed, and Carter has denied all the allegations, saying the sex was consensual.

In their counterclaims against the women, including the one filed last week against A.R, Carter’s attorneys said accusers were taking advantage of the #MeToo movement, calling the women “opportunists” who “set out to thrust themselves into the spotlight and destroy innocent lives.”

Last summer, Carter’s attorneys told the 8 News Now Investigators in part: “Anyone credulously covering these ridiculous claims should know that, when A.R. first accused Nick Carter almost two decades ago, authorities listened and thoroughly investigated – and then informed A.R. that her allegations were meritless. In fact, at the conclusion of the police investigation into A.R.’s claims, law enforcement concluded that A.R. “could herself have been charged with a crime.”

In August, a Clark County District Court judge sided with Carter in part of his counterclaim against Ruth and the Schumans.

In court documents filed last summer, lawyers for Schuman and her father, Jerome Schuman, claimed their clients’ public statements were protected by the First Amendment and were not defamatory. Judge Nancy Allf denied the Schumans’ anti-SLAPP motion, allowing Carter’s counterclaim to proceed.

Allf agreed Carter’s legal team showed enough evidence to move forward with his counterclaim where he said the allegations against him are false and defamatory. The claim references the allegations against him as a “conspiracy,” documents said. The Schumans have since appealed to the Nevada Supreme Court. A hearing date was not yet scheduled as of Monday.

Carter’s attorney said their client and the Backstreet Boys lost at least $2.3 million due to the allegations, which led to the cancellation of promotional events, endorsements and a 2022 Christmas TV special, documents said.

A judge had yet to schedule a court date on Carter’s counterclaim against A.R. Carter’s attorneys have asked a judge to consolidate both civil cases. A trial was scheduled for January 2025.

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