Woman accuses Bob Dylan of sexually abusing her when she was 12

Aug. 16 (UPI) -- Legendary singer-songwriter Bob Dylan has been sued by a woman who claims that he drugged and sexually assaulted her in 1965 when she was 12 years old.

In a civil lawsuit filed Friday in New York City, the woman, identified only as J.C., claims Dylan "groomed" her for child sexual abuse by providing her with drugs and alcohol during a six-week period during 1965 in his room at the Chelsea Hotel in New York's Greenwich Village.

Lawyers for the alleged victim, who now lives in Greenwich, Conn., said the singer "established an emotional connection" with her to "lower her inhibitions with the object of sexually abusing her, which he did."

J.C., the suit claims, has suffered lifelong "severe psychological damage and emotional trauma" from the alleged abuse, including depression, anxiety and disassociation.

The suit does not specify what damages are being sought from the 80-year-old music and civil rights icon.

In a statement issued to NBC News, a spokesman for Dylan said, "The 56-year-old claim is untrue and will be vigorously defended."

Dylan is known for his hits "Blowin' in the Wind," "The Times They Are a-Changin'," "Like a Rolling Stone," "Lay Lady Lay," "Forever Young," "Knockin' On Heaven's Door," "Tangled Up In Blue," "Gotta Serve Somebody," "Make You Feel My Love" and "Things Have Changed."

He has earned 10 Grammy Awards, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, a Golden Globe and an Oscar throughout his storied career and was presented with the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016 "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition."

That year, the University of Tulsa and the George Kaiser Family Foundation acquired his archive of letters, photographs, videos and manuscripts.

The entertainer has sold more than 125 million records and, before the coronavirus pandemic hit, had been performing about 100 shows a year.