Backstreet Boys' Nick Carter Faces New Rape Allegation in Latest Lawsuit

Backstreet Boys member Nick Carter is facing a new rape allegation, according to a civil lawsuit filed last week in Nevada.

The plaintiff, Laura Penly, says the singer assaulted her twice in 2005 while they were in a short relationship that began when she was 19 and he was 25.

According to the complaint, Penly says she met Carter in 2004 and had consensual sex with him a few times.

However, she alleges that on one visit to his Los Angeles apartment, she told him she didn't want to be intimate.

Despite this, she claims Carter forced himself on her. "The only reason she was there was to have sex," he allegedly said, before picking her up, throwing her onto his bed, and raping her, despite her saying "no" several times, RollingStone said.

Penly also claims Carter didn't use protection and later infected her with several sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including HPV, which she says led to a Stage 2 cervical cancer diagnosis in 2005.

Two months after the first alleged assault, Penly says Carter apologized and invited her over again. That second visit ended with another rape, she claims, after he took her into a bedroom during a gathering with friends.

Backstreet Boys' Nick Carter Denies Latest Rape Allegation

This lawsuit is the fourth filed against Carter in recent years. Other women, including singer Melissa Schuman and Shannon "Shay" Ruth, have also accused him of sexual assault.

Schuman's case is set for trial in December 2025 in California. Ruth's and another accuser's cases are scheduled to be heard in Nevada in 2026.

According to DailyMail, Carter has denied all allegations. His attorneys, Liane K. Wakayama and Dale Hayes Jr., released a statement calling the lawsuits "false" and part of a coordinated effort to damage Carter's reputation.

"Nick does not recall ever even meeting Laura Penly," the statement reads. "Whatever health challenges she may have faced have absolutely nothing to do with Nick."

The statement also claimed that Penly has a history of legal and financial trouble and labeled the lawsuit as "frivolous." Carter has previously filed defamation countersuits against several of his accusers, though one of those lawsuits was dismissed in 2024.

Penly is asking the court for compensatory and punitive damages, saying she continues to suffer emotional and physical distress from the alleged assaults.

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