A judge on Tuesday dismissed a counterclaim of defamation filed by Backstreet Boys singer Nick Carter after a woman accused him of sexual assault, according to the woman’s attorney.
Ashley Repp, represented by attorneys John Kawai and Margaret Mabie, filed a lawsuit against Carter alleging that he raped her on his yacht in 2003, when she was 15 years old.
In the counterclaim, Carter admitted to having sex with Repp in 2003, saying that he had believed her to be 18 and that Repp had told him this was the case. Repp’s attorneys argued in a statement that this was an admission of statutory rape.
Repp’s motion to dismiss Carter’s counterclaim was an anti-SLAPP motion. SLAPP is short for strategic lawsuits against public participation. The motion is designed to dismiss lawsuits filed to punish someone for exercising their First Amendment rights. In Repp’s case, this was accusing someone of a crime.
“I am so thankful that the voice of my 15-year-old self is finally being heard and believed. All I ever wanted was to set myself free. I hope anyone else struggling can do the same,” Repp said in a statement shared by her attorneys.
“More defendants are responding to sexual abuse lawsuits by suing survivors for defamation,” said Margaret Mabie, one of Repp’s attorneys, in a statement. “These attempts to scare off the truth of sexual abuse have a massive chilling effect on survivors seeking to bring claims against powerful people.”
Repp’s attorneys said in a statement that while Carter’s counterclaims in his lawsuits against Schuman and Ruth still persist, “all survivors can celebrate that Ashley Repp prevailed in defending herself against Carter.”