A United States judge on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit accusing Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler of sexually assaulting a former teenage model twice in one day in Manhattan, almost 50 years ago.
U.S. District Judge in Manhattan Lewis Kaplan said Jeanne Bellino waited too long to prosecute Tyler, 75, under a New York City law that protects victims of gender-motivated violence. The vocalist “vehemently” denied the accusations.
The judge highlighted that Bellino did not qualify for the two-year period to pursue actions that would otherwise extend beyond the statute of limitations because she did not allege that Tyler's conduct posed a “serious risk of physical harm.” .
And, in a decision that could affect other cases, Kaplan highlighted that two state laws (the Child Victims Act and the Adult Survivors Act) nullified Bellino's claim, “substantially for the reasons” given by Tyler's lawyers.
The lawyers stressed that these laws, whose period to file a lawsuit has now expired, “occupy the field with regard to the resurgence of claims arising from the state criminal sexual assault law,” and that she showed a “lack of due diligence” by not prosecuting under the Child Victims Act.
An attorney for Jeanne Bellino did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
David Long-Daniels, Tyler's attorney, commented, “We agree with the judge's reasoning and are grateful for this outcome on behalf of our client.”
Bellino said she was 17 in the summer of 1975, when a friend arranged for her to meet Aerosmith after a fashion show in Manhattan.
She alleged that while walking down the street with Tyler and his entourage, the artist, then 27, forced her into a phone booth, where he groped her, had simulated sex and stuck his tongue down her throat, while others laughed.
Bellino highlighted that, because she was sharing the costs with her friend to return home to Queens, she went with her entourage to the Warwick Hotel, where Tyler allegedly pinned her against a well and assaulted her again.
Tyler also defended himself against a lawsuit in Los Angeles, where another woman, Julia Misley, alleged that he sexually assaulted her in 1973, when she was 16 and he was 25. Bellino's law firm represented Misley in that case.
Source: CNN Brasil
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