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Embattled singer Trey Songz has dodged a civil suit related to rape allegations made by a woman, but not because he was found to be innocent. On Monday, the lawsuit was dismissed after a judge agreed with Songz’s attorneys, who argued that the statute of limitations had expired before the woman had filed her complaint, according to Complex.
As previously reported, the woman referred to only as “Jane Doe” said Songz anally raped her at a house party in Los Angeles, California, in 2016.
From our previous report:
The victim states in the filing that she and Trey Songz did have a consensual sexual relationship prior to the incident and that he had invited her upstairs for what she believed would be consensual relations. It was on the way upstairs that she claimed that he repeatedly asked her if he could “get that a**” to which she refused and requested he stop asking.
In the documents, the victim then said that the singer’s demeanor changed once they entered the bedroom and that he forcibly removed her pants when they got to the room, held her down, and forcibly inserted his penis into her anus. She says that she screamed throughout the attack, begging him to stop and trying to fight him off to no avail.
“Even if plaintiff’s allegations are true—and defendant vehemently maintains they are not—plaintiff’s claims are facially time-barred under the applicable two-year statute of limitations,” Songz’s attorney, Randall M. Awad, said in a court filing, according to Blavity.
Ideally, if you’ve been accused of a rape you’re not guilty of, you want your main argument to be “I didn’t do it,” not, “She didn’t get her paperwork in on time.” But Jane Doe reportedly missed an Oct. 19, 2022 deadline for a rebuttal after the $20 million lawsuit had already been filed, dismissed and refiled. Apparently, the refile came too late.
“In 2016, the statute of limitations in California to file a civil claim for sexual assault was two years, if the said victim was over 18,” Blavity noted.
Yeah, that kind of narrow window policy would not be very encouraging to survivors of rape and sexual assault who want their abusers held accountable.
Anyway, it was also noted that this is the second time the “Na Na” singer has skated on abuse allegations in this year.
From Complex:
Earlier this year, Trey Songz was cleared of another incident of sexual assault that reportedly happened in November, 2021. The alleged victim said the incident took place on his 37th birthday in a hotel room at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas. The Las Vegas Metro Police Department confirmed they received a report about the incident, and criminal charges weren’t filed following an investigation.
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