Lawsuit accuses Backstreet Boy Nick Carter of rape following Tacoma Dome show

Craig Sailor
·3 min read

A woman accused Backstreet Boys singer Nick Carter of sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager after a 2001 concert at the Tacoma Dome, according to a civil lawsuit filed Thursday.

“The last 21 years, I’ve been filled with pain, confusion, frustration, shame and self harm that are a direct result of Nick Carter raping me,” Shannon “Shay” Ruth, now 39, said at a press conference in Los Angeles.

The press conference was livestreamed on Facebook, and Ruth gave permission to be identified in the news media.

Carter did not immediately respond to the allegations.

The Backstreet Boys performed two shows at the Tacoma Dome on Feb. 25 and 26, 2001.

Attorney Mark Boskovich said Ruth was in a line for autographs after the Backstreet Boys’ Tacoma Dome show. It was then that Carter allegedly asked her to join him on a tour bus.

Once on the bus, Carter allegedly took Ruth to the bus’s bathroom, told her to get on her knees, exposed himself and forced her to perform sexual acts, Boskovich said.

“Under duress, she did as Carter instructed and cried throughout the ordeal,” Boskovich said. “But, that didn’t stop him.”

Carter allegedly then took Ruth to a bed where he raped her. Ruth tried to get away but Carter allegedly stopped her.

Ruth said she threatened to report Carter, but he allegedly said no one would believe her and she would go to jail if she did report him because he was Nick Carter.

“I remember him calling me a retarded bitch and grabbing me and leaving bruises on my arm,” Ruth said. She said she is on the autism spectrum.

Ruth, Boskovich said, was a virgin at the time and Carter allegedly infected her with HPV.

Ruth, who grew up in a strict religious household, told no one and started cutting herself in response to the trauma, she said. She believed she would be jailed if she made accusations.

“I felt like I had no where to turn,” she said.

The lawsuit is asking for punitive damages and money to compensate Ruth for the harm Carter allegedly caused her.

Three other women, only identified as Jane Doe 1, 2, and 3 are also part of the lawsuit.

“The women’s stories are remarkably similar. All virgins and all infected,” Boskovich said.

Ruth said she wants to stop Carter from allegedly assaulting more teens and women.

“I hope that by coming forward today many other women will have the courage to come forward and hold Nick Carter accountable,” she said. “Carter took away my childhood and innocence, but he cannot and will not take away my strength and my truth.”

The website TMZ.com published an article about the case Thursday morning.

“A source close to Nick tells us, ‘This accusation is categorically false, Nick is focusing on his family and mourning the death of his brother,’” according to the TMZ story.

Carter’s brother, pop singer Aaron Carter, died Nov. 5.

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