A woman has filed a lawsuit against Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler alleging sexual assault, coerced abortion and involuntary infamy in the 1970s when she was a minor and he was in his early 20s.
Attorneys for Julia Misley, formerly known as Julia Holcomb, filed the lawsuit Tuesday in Los Angeles County. The lawsuit was filed under California’s Child Victims Act, which allows survivors of childhood sexual abuse to file civil suits. The three-year lookback window ends on Saturday.
In a statement, Misley said the change in law has encouraged her to take legal action.
“I want this action to expose an industry that protects famous criminals, to clean up and hold accountable an industry that has exploited and allowed me to be exploited for years, along with so many other naive and vulnerable children and adults,” Misley said in a statement.
According to the suit, Misley first met Tyler, referred to as Defendant Doe 1 in the suit, in 1973 after Tyler played a concert in Portland, Oregon. At the time, Misley was 16 and Tyler was 25.
The lawsuit alleges that Tyler, now 74, took Misley to his hotel room and “performed multiple acts of criminal sexual conduct” on her that night.
The lawsuit alleges that Tyler bought Misley a plane ticket to join him in Seattle for the band’s next show. The lawsuit alleges that Misley was also abused after that show.
According to the lawsuit, in 1974, Tyler convinced Misley’s mother to “pass custody of her daughter to him.” Tyler made promises to his mother that he would enroll her in school, help support her and provide her with better medical care than her mother could provide, according to the lawsuit.
“Defendant Doe 1 failed to significantly fulfill these promises and instead continued to travel, assault, and supply Plaintiff with alcohol and drugs,” the lawsuit alleges.
The suit also alleges that Tyler got Misley pregnant and coerced her into having an abortion.
“Defendant Doe 1 (Tyler) pressured and coerced Plaintiff into having an abortion by threatening to send her back to her family and stop supporting and loving her,” according to the lawsuit. “The plaintiff relented and the abortion was performed,” the lawsuit added.
“The complaint that was prepared by my legal team recounts in legal terms the trajectory of my life from early struggles to exploitation by Steven Tyler, the music industry, my escape from that world, my recovery and transformation, my restoration of spirit through of faith, building a family and rebuilding my life,” Misley said in a statement.
The lawsuit further alleges that Tyler “intentionally publicized the acts he perpetrated” on Misley through several books that were published describing the attacks.
In a 2011 memoir, “Does the noise in my head bother you?” Tyler writes of being so in love that he “almost took a teenage fiancée” that the book does not identify.
“I went to sleep at her parents’ house for a few nights and her parents fell in love with me, they signed papers 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.
Tyler’s accuser said the posts traumatized her and her family.
“I am grateful for this new opportunity to act and be heard,” Misley said in a statement.
CNN has reached out to representatives for Steven Tyler for comment, but has yet to hear back.
Source: CNN Brasil
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