Backstreet Boys singer Nick Carter was accused of rape by Melissa Schuman, a member of girl group Dream in late 1990s. Schuman claimed that the incident took place in 2002.
Carter, on Wednesday, denied the allegation that he raped the teen pop singer 15 years ago, saying he was "shocked and saddened" by the accusation.
Schuman, claimed in a lengthy blog post that Carter forced her to have oral sex and raped her in 2002 when she was 18 and he was 22.
According to her post, Carter invited Schuman and a friend of hers to his apartment. She wrote that she and Carter went into the bathroom and had started kissing when he “started unbuttoning (her) pants.”
“I told him I didn’t want to go any farther, he didn’t listen. He didn’t care,” she wrote. After pulling her pants down, she alleged that he proceeded to perform oral sex on her.
Schuman further mentioned that Carter turned impatient and didn’t let her leave. “ He was relentless, refusing to take my nos for an answer... It was done. I went limp,” she blogged.
"I am shocked and saddened by Ms Schuman's accusations," Carter, now 37, said in a statement that was emailed to media outlets.
Melissa never expressed to me while we were together or at any time since that anything we did was not consensual. It is contrary to my nature and everything I hold dear to intentionally cause someone discomfort or harm.Nick Carter
Schuman could not immediately be reached for comment on Carter's statement. She left Dream in 2002, and after the band made a brief comeback in 2015, it disbanded again in 2016.
She wrote on her blog in a 2 November post titled Melissa Explains It All that she had decided to come forward after women made accusations against other prominent men in entertainment and politics, and the #MeToo social media movement.
The Backstreet Boys were one of the biggest boy bands of the late 1990s and early 2000s, with hits like Quit Playing Games With My Heart, As Long As You Love Me, I Want It That Way.
Carter and the band are currently playing a concert residency in Las Vegas that is scheduled to run through February 2018.
(With inputs from Reuters.)
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