An American announced on Friday that she had filed a complaint against Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler, whom she accuses of having “used his status as a rock star” to sexually exploit her in the 1970s when she was a minor.
Julia Misley, 65, is suing him for “sexual assault” in a Los Angeles court under a California law that temporarily lifted the statute of limitations for sexual assault cases involving minors.
The complaint does not mention the 74-year-old singer by name. But in a press release, Mrs. Misley evokes “the trajectory of [sa] life: from its first difficulties to exploitation by Steven Tyler and the music industry” until its “transformation”.
In 1973, when she was called Julia Holcomb and was only 16 years old, she had met the musician, aged 25, after a concert. That night, he invited her to his hotel and “performed several illegal sexual acts” on her, according to the complaint.
Their relationship then continued. The young woman “did not have the means to resist her power, her fame and her financial resources”, especially since Steven Tyler had convinced her that it was “a love story “, write his lawyers.
In 1974, the singer had, according to the complaint, obtained his guardianship by promising his mother to ensure his well-being and his education, but “instead, he continued to travel with her, assaulting her and provide him with alcohol and drugs”. A year later, he forced her to have an abortion, the complaint adds.
The young woman then left the star and the music industry. After turning to religion, she “kept her shame a secret.” But “her life was turned upside down” when Steven Tyler recounted their relationship in his memoirs.
“She was 16, but she knew how to be naughty”, “she was so sexy that I fell in love”, her parents “signed papers to entrust me with her guardianship so that I would not be arrested if we changed State,” he wrote in this book.
According to the complaint, the tabloid press then revealed her identity, forcing her to tell her relatives about her past.
For the initial assault and the more recent psychological damage, the one who has become an anti-abortion activist is calling for the organization of a trial to set the amount of fines and compensation to be imposed on the rocker.
Contacted by AFP, Steven Tyler’s agents did not immediately react.