This story includes descriptions of sexual assault that may be distressing to some readers.
Backstreet Boys singer Nick Carter is being sued for sexual battery following an alleged incident in 2001.
According to legal documents obtained by TMZ, Shannon Ruth, then 17, claims the singer, then 21, invited her onto the band's tour bus after a concert on their Black & Blue world tour and sexually assaulted her.
The documents state that Carter asked Ruth, who has autism and cerebral palsy, if she wanted a drink. When she asked for apple juice, the singer said they only had cranberry juice and offered that to her.
Ruth claims the red-coloured drink, which Carter called "VIP juice", tasted "off", but drank it to not be rude. She now believes it contained alcohol.
The lawsuit alleges Carter took Ruth into the tour bus' bathroom and ordered her to perform oral sex on him. She cried throughout but he allegedly instructed her to continue.
Ruth claims Carter then took her to a bed and continued assaulting her, called her a "r*tarded little bitch" and said no one would believe her if she told anyone what had happened.
According to the documents, Ruth was also a virgin at the time and contracted HPV after the incident. She is now seeking damages.
"Just because Nick Carter is a celebrity does not mean that he is excused from his crimes," Ruth said at a press conference this week.
"I am a survivor and always will be."
While Carter is yet to comment, a source close to him told TMZ the accusation is "categorically false" and the singer is "focusing on his family and mourning the death of his brother", Aaron Carter, who died last month.