A lawsuit against Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler, alleged sexual assault and coercive involuntary infamy in the 1970s
A woman has filed a lawsuit against Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler, alleging sexual assault, coercion of an abortion and involuntary infamy in the 1970s when she was a minor and he was in his mid-20s.
Attorneys for Julia Misley, formerly known as Julia Holcomb, filed the lawsuit on Tuesday in Los Angeles County. The suit was filed under the California Child Victims Act, which allows survivors of childhood sexual abuse to file civil cases. The three-year “lookback” window ends Saturday.
“I want this action to expose an industry that protects celebrity offenders, to cleanse and hold accountable an industry that both exploited and allowed me to be exploited for years, along with so many other naïve and vulnerable kids and adults,” Misley said in a statement.
Misley alleges that she first met Tyler just after her 16th birthday when she was invited backstage at an Aerosmith concert in Portland, Ore., in 1973. Tyler was 25 years old at the time. Misley was taken to a hotel room by a “leading member of a world-famous rock band” and engaged in various acts of sexual conduct. The musician then bought Misley a plane ticket for a Seattle concert, the lawsuit alleges, because she could not travel with him across state lines as a minor.
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According to the lawsuit, the defendants didn’t meaningfully follow through on their promises, and continued to provide alcohol and drugs to the person.
According to the lawsuit,DEFENDANT DOE 1 threatened to send her back to her family if she did not have an abortion. The suit said the abortion was performed after thePlaintiff relented.
The lawsuit further alleges that Tyler has “intentionally publicized the acts he perpetrated” on Misley through multiple books that were published describing the assaults.
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“I went and slept at her parents’ house for a couple of nights and her parents fell in love with me, signed papers over for me to have custody, so I wouldn’t get arrested if I took her out of state. I took her on tour with me,” he wrote.
The details align with Tyler’s own words from his memoir. In the book, the rock star describes becoming guardian to someone who was close to being his bride, according to Rolling Stone. He said his parents signed a paper for him to have custody when they fell in love with him. I took her on tour with me.”