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The rape allegation leveled against Backstreet Boys singer Nick Carter earlier this year has now hit the desk of the L.A. County DA and they’re considering whether to file charges.Law enforcement sources tell us the case was submitted to the D.A.’s office just last week … nearly 7 months after the woman filed a report with cops..
Carter, 38, is accused of raping singer Melissa Schuman, 33, inside a Santa Monica apartment back in 2002 – allegations he has denied.
Schuman, best known for her role in the all-girl teen band Dream, stepped forward with the claim in a lengthy blog post last November.She said Cater invited her and a friend over to the Santa Monica residence for a “casual hangout” while they were shooting the 2004 made-for-TV movie “The Hollow.”
Schuman, who was 18 and a virgin at the time, said Carter fed her shots and then took her into a bathroom for the unexpected attack.She said he unbuttoned her pants and performed oral sex on her despite her objections.
“I told him to stop, but he didn’t. So I turned off the bathroom light so I wouldn’t see anything. He kept turning the light back on because he told me he wanted to look at me,” she wrote.“I remember thinking at that point that maybe after this he will just stop, but he didn’t,” she wrote.
Schuman said Carter then took her to another room and forced her to perform oral sex on him.She tried to refuse, but he grew “angry” and “impatient,” she said.”I felt scared and trapped,” she wrote. “I couldn’t leave. It was evident to me, that I couldn’t leave. He was stronger and much bigger than me, and there was no way I would be able to open that door or have anyone help me,” she wrote.
She acquiesced out of fear, she said, and felt “sickened” when she caught a glimpse of herself performing the sex act “against my will.”She said Carter eventually moved her to the bedroom and raped her.
I went limp, turned my head to my left and decided I would just go to sleep now. I wanted to believe it was some sort of nightmare I was dreaming up,” she wrote.
“I am shocked and saddened by Ms. Schuman’s accusations,” Carter said in a statement to People magazine last year.He claimed the encounter was consensual.
“This is the first that I am hearing about these accusations, nearly two decades later. It is contrary to my nature and everything I hold dear to intentionally cause someone discomfort or harm,” he said.
In her blog post, Schuman said the episode left her “broken” and “traumatized.” She told a few friends and a therapist about the alleged assault but largely kept quiet due to Carter’s power in the music industry, she said.
“I never wanted anybody to know about my story. I wanted to lock it in a box in my mind and let the memories slowly suffocate as time went on,” she wrote.
Schuman spoke up after a wave of allegations against movie producer Harvey Weinstein invigorated the #MeToo movement and a deeper understanding of the dynamics of sexual assault.
“I feel I have an obligation now to come forward with the hope and intention to inspire and encourage other victims to tell their story. We are stronger in numbers. If you are reading this and you have been assaulted, know you don’t have to be silent and you are not alone. I know it’s scary. I’m scared,” she wrote.
Schuman later reported the incident to Santa Monica Police.Attempts to reach a rep for Carter were not immediately successful Thursday.
