Rick James is being posthumously sued for the rape of a 15 year old girl in 1979. The anonymous victim is seeking $50 million in damages, citing years of “physical, psychological, and emotional injury,” according to the affidavit. According to the Associated Press, the incident allegedly occurred while the victim was living at a youth group home in Buffalo, New York. “He grabbed my hair and pushed my head into the pillow,” the victim said in the affidavit. “I tried to fight him off, but he told me to ‘shut up and quit moving or I’ll cut you.’” James then threatened the victim into silence, according to the affidavit, telling her he “would know where to find” her if she told anyone. The lawsuit was filed under the Child Victims Act, which was signed into law in 2019 and extends the statute of limitations on child abuse.
James was previously accused of assaulting two women in 1991 and 1992. The first assault occurred in Los Angeles, when James and his girlfriend allegedly imprisoned and tortured a woman over a period of three days. The second assault occurred while James was out on bail for the previous assault charge. He was sentenced to over two years in state prison in 1993, then acquitted by a jury. James died in 2004.