Singer Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys has received a ruling in one of the two civil lawsuits filed against him in Nevada. The lawsuits involve allegations of sexual assault and defamation.

In one case, a Nevada woman, now 40 years old, claimed that Carter attacked her on his tour bus in 2001 after a concert in Washington state when she was 17. She alleged that Carter threatened her not to disclose the incident, stating that he had the power to send her to jail.

The other case involves allegations from a woman in Florida, who filed the lawsuit in Clark County District Court. She accused Carter of raping her on his yacht in 2003 when she was 15 years old.

Nick Carter, 43, resides in Las Vegas and has denied the allegations of sexual battery and emotional distress in both cases. The two women are seeking unspecified monetary damages exceeding $30,000.

During a recent court appearance, Judge Nancy Allf declined to dismiss Carter's counterclaim, which accused three individuals, including one woman who alleged he raped her in 2003, of defamation, conspiracy, and abuse of process. Carter is seeking over $2.3 million in damages in this counterclaim.

Carter's attorney, Liane Wakayama, stated that Melissa Schuman and her father, Jerome Schuman, have conspired to profit from false claims against Nick Carter. Melissa Schuman had previously attempted to have criminal charges brought against Carter in California in 2018 but was unsuccessful.

In court, Attorney Alan Greenberg argued that Carter was a public figure, the allegations against him were valid, and Melissa Schuman had reported the assault to friends and a therapist in 2003. Schuman has publicly spoken about her experience and consented to the use of her name.

Carter's legal team contends that the Schumans did not make their allegations public until late 2017, following the #MeToo movement, which shed light on cases of sexual violence. They also allege that the Schumans influenced the woman who accused Carter of sexual assault in Florida.

The Florida plaintiff, identified only by her initials, alleges that Carter raped her when she was 15 in 2003 on his yacht in Marathon, Florida.

Margaret Mabie, the woman's attorney, highlighted the challenges faced by victims seeking justice for child sexual abuse and expressed the difficulty in holding Nick Carter publicly accountable for his actions despite numerous complaints about his past conduct towards young women.

The Backstreet Boys, formed in 1993, are renowned for hits such as "I Want It That Way," "As Long as You Love Me," and "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)."