Nick Carter is accused of rape

MANILA, Philippines – Backstreet Boys singer Nick Carter has been accused of rape by singer and actress Melissa Schuman, who wrote about the experience in her blog.

In a post titled “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anybody,” Schuman, who at the time was 18 years old and a member of the pop group Dream, said she first met Carter over the phone when her label and his rep set up a chat between them after Carter showed “romantic interest” in her.

She then met him in person when they were cast in a movie. Schuman said she and Carter were hanging out with their friends at Carter’s apartment in Santa Monica when he invited her to his office to listen to his new music. There, they started to kiss. Schuman noted that she was a virgin at the time and was vocal about holding conservative values.

“After kissing for a moment, he took my hand and brought me into the bathroom adjacent to his office. He shut the door and we continued to kiss. I asked him what we were doing in there. He didn’t respond and continued to kiss me. He then pick [sic] me up, put me on the bathroom counter and started to unbutton my pants. I told him I didn’t want to go any further. He didnt listen. He didn’t care,” Schuman wrote.

She said that Carter performed oral sex on her then, and did not stop even when she told him to.

After someone in the house knocked on the bathroom door, he then transferred her to another bathroom, took of his pants, and asked her to perform oral sex on him, saying that Schuman had to do it for him because he did it for her.

“I felt scared and trapped,” Schuman wrote, saying that she eventually gave in. After that, she said that Carter took her to the bedroom and began to rape her.

“Again, I told him that I was a virgin and I didn’t want to have sex. I told him that I was saving myself for my future husband. I said it over and over again,” she wrote, adding that Carter refused to take no for an answer.

She then said that the next day, her roommate woke her up, and Carter was nowhere to be found.

According to Schuman, she didn’t tell anyone about the incident, and withdrew from family and friends in the weeks following. She also said that Carter called her repeatedly, left her messages, and demanded that she speak with him.

“Then he finally left me one last nasty, angry message and he never called me again,” she wrote.

Years later, Schuman said she was forced to face Carter again when she signed with his manager, Kenneth Crear, and had to perform a duet with him at a showcase for a major label.

The label eventually chose not to pick her up, and she lost interest in pursuing her career as a singer.

“I was broken. I was tired. I was traumatized,” she said, adding that she eventually told her friends, family, and therapist, but said no to coming out with her story even as people began speaking up about their own experiences in the wake of the Weinstein sexual abuse scandal.

Schuman wrote that what prompted her to come forward were the victim-blaming comments on a RadarOnline article saying that Carter was investigated for sexually assaulting a fan.

“The victim in the above article remains unnamed and I can’t blame her. I can’t help but feel empathy for her as well as sicken by the lack of belief and support. There is nothing worse than being victimized and having others call you a liar. Or claim you are looking for 15 minutes of fame,” she said. “Let me ask this simple question. Who the h-ll wants to be famous for being raped?”

Carter has yet to issue a response to Schuman’s story. – Rappler.com