Editor’s note: This story contains descriptions of sexual assault. If you or someone you know is a survivor of sexual assault, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or at https://www.rainn.org.
A woman who says Hall of Fame boxer Mike Tyson raped her in the early 1990s is suing him under New York’s Adult Survivors Act, according to a lawsuit filed in the state earlier this month.
The 56-year-old Tyson was previously convicted of rape in February 1992 in Indianapolis. He was sentenced to six years in prison and was released on parole after three years.
The plaintiff in the civil suit, who is seeking $5 million in damages, stated in a signed affidavit that Tyson invited her into a limousine in Albany, N.Y., under the pretext of bringing her to a party. Once in a limousine, she says Tyson began to kiss her, ignored her pleas to stop, pulled her pants off and “violently raped” her.
The woman said in her affidavit that because of the incident, she “experienced feelings of guilt, loss of self-respect, shame, embarrassment, sadness, anger, depression, anxiety, violent tendencies, drug and alcohol addiction and confusion.” Additionally, the woman has “been unable to maintain and/or develop healthy relationships with men or anyone in general” and has “experienced extreme emotional suffering including but not limited to nightmares, panic attacks and flashbacks.”
New York’s Adult Survivors Act was signed into law May 24, 2022, and creates “a one-year lookback window for survivors of sexual assault that occurred when they were over the age of 18 to sue their abusers regardless of when the abuse occurred.”
