Crime & Safety

Backstreet Boys' Nick Carter Won't Face Sexual Assault Charges

Singer Melissa Schuman said Carter sexually assaulted her when she was 18 years old and a singer in the girl group Dream.

SANTA MONICA, CA – Backstreet Boys singer Nick Carter won't face any criminal charges over a woman's allegations that he raped her in 2003, due to expired statute of limitations.

According to a charge-evaluation worksheet dated Monday, the District Attorney's Office noted that the statute of limitations for the alleged assault expired in 2013, therefore the case was declined.

Santa Monica police turned over their report on the allegations to the District Attorney's Office in early August.

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Singer Melissa Schuman went public last year with accusations that Carter sexually assaulted her in a bathroom and a bedroom when she was 18 years old and a member of the girl group Dream. She filed a report with Santa Monica police in February.

Carter has denied the allegations, saying he was "shocked and saddened" by the accusations and insisting that Schuman had never expressed to him "that anything we did was not consensual."

Find out what's happening in Santa Monicafor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Schuman told KNX Newsradio that she knew the statute of limitations made it unlikely charges would be filed, but is still glad she came forward.

"It was the scariest thing I've ever done but ... I'm better for it," she said. "I'm free ... I've gotten my voice back."

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City News Service and Patch staffer Emily Holland contributed to this post; Photo: MIAMI BEACH, FL - JUNE 10: Nick Carter from Back Street Boys performs on stage during iHeartSummer '17 Weekend hosted by AT&T at Fontainebleau Miami Beach on June 10, 2017 in Miami Beach, Florida. (Photo by Jason Koerner/Getty Images for iHeartMedia)

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