Steven Tyler denies sexually assaulting a minor, claims it was consensual
Steven Tyler has denied allegations that he sexually assaulted a 16-year-old in 1973 and forced her to get an abortion.
The Aerosmith frontman recently filed a lengthy response to the claims, which were made in a December 2022 lawsuit, arguing that the plaintiff consented to their sexual relationship and that he had immunity as her legal guardian at the time, according to documents obtained by Rolling Stone.
Tyler, now 75, also asked for the lawsuit to be dismissed, citing 24 affirmative defenses denying the allegations.
At one point, Tyler even claimed plaintiff Julia Misley, formerly known as Julia Holcomb, “has not suffered any injury or damage as a result of any action by Defendant.”
In addition, he noted that “if it is determined that Plaintiff has been damaged, then any such damages were not caused by Defendant.”
The response comes three months after Misley accused the rocker of sexual assault, and sexual battery, and also alleged that he forced her to get an abortion during their relationship in the 1970s.
In the court documents, Misley alleged that Tyler “coerced and persuaded” her into believing they had “a romantic love affair” — which started when she was 16 and he was 25.
Although she did not name him directly in the suit, Misley spoke publicly about her relationship with Tyler over the years.
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The musician also admitted in his memoir, “Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?,” to having a relationship with a then-unnamed 16-year-old girl.
In fact, he revealed in the book that he “almost took a teen bride” because “her parents fell in love with me [and] signed a paper over for me to have custody so I wouldn’t get arrested if I took her out of state.”
In her suit — which was filed just days before the statute of limitations on reporting childhood sexual abuse crimes would have expired — Misley said the rockstar “performed various acts of criminal sexual conduct upon” her after meeting at an Aerosmith concert in Portland.
Misley claims Tyler was able to convince her mother to allow him to become her legal guardian in 1975 after flying her to numerous cities where he was touring and performing the same sexual acts
Yet Misley said she wasn’t taken care of in the way Tyler had promised, claiming he “continued to travel with, assault and provide alcohol and drugs to” her.
She also alleged that he eventually got her pregnant, according to the court docs, and forced her to get an abortion, otherwise he wouldn’t support her anymore.
Misley claimed his behavior caused her to leave him and move back to Portland to start a new life as a devout Catholic.
Misley’s attorney, Jeff Anderson, slammed the rocker’s filing, saying he is using “a sham legal guardianship to avoid prosecution for sex crimes.”
“He’s heaping more pain on Misley and gaslighting her by falsely claiming that she ‘consented’ and that the pain he inflicted was ‘justified and in good faith,'” Anderson said in a statement to Rolling Stone.
“Never have we encountered a legal defense as obnoxious and potentially dangerous as the one that Tyler and his lawyers launched this week: Their claim that legal guardianship is consent and permission for sexual abuse.”
Reps for Tyler did not immediately respond to Page Six for comment.
