Bob Dylan Accuser Drops Sexual Assault Lawsuit

An anonymous woman who accused Bob Dylan of sexually assaulting her as a child has dropped her lawsuit against him after being being accused of destroying evidence, Billboard reports.

Last year, a woman identified only as J.C. accused Dylan of sexually abusing her over a six-week period in 1965, claims the artist called “false, malicious, reckless and defamatory.” The woman’s case first came under scrutiny after her timeline of events failed to match up with records of Dylan’s 1965 touring schedule. Then, at a hearing on July 28th, she asked the federal judge overseeing the case to dismiss it “with prejudice,” meaning it will be permanently closed and cannot be refiled.

J.C.’s request to end the lawsuit came after she failed to turn over texts and emails pertinent to the case prior to a court-ordered deadline earlier in July. Soon after, the plaintiff’s attorneys, Daniel W. Isaacs and Peter J. Gleason, notified the judge that they had been fired from the case, but did not offer a reason for their dismissal. Dylan’s attorneys ultimately accused J.C. of destroying the messages in question, which they said featured the woman discussing and “casting doubt” about the core allegations in the lawsuit.

Dylan’s attorneys said the woman’s actions “strongly suggests Plaintiff has destroyed evidence directly relevant to the central factual allegations in this litigation, and that the evidence may be lost forever. This would mean Plaintiff will never be able to comply with her discovery obligations and the integrity of these proceedings and Defendant’s ability to mount a fair defense have been compromised irretrievably.”

“This case is over. It is outrageous that it was ever brought in the first place,” Dylan’s lead attorney Orin Snyder said after J.C. dropped the charges. “We are pleased that the plaintiff has dropped this lawyer-driven sham and that the case has been dismissed with prejudice.”