By: Sean Crose
Mike Tyson is being taken to court by an unidentified woman who claims he raped her in a limousine in the early 1990s. The woman, who is suing the former heavyweight champion in a civil suit, claims she was at a New York club called Septembers with a friend in the early 90s when she met Tyson. “My friend and I were hanging out with him and his limousine driver,” the woman claims in her suit, which was filed in the Albany County Court the first week of January. “Tyson told us about a party and asked us to join him. My friend was going to drop off her car, and Tyson said he would pick her up in the limousine.”
The woman goes on to claim that, once in the limo, Tyson began coming on to her. After she told him to stop, the woman claims, “He then pulled my pants off and violently raped me.” The woman states the incident caused her a great deal of physical, emotional and psychological drama. She also states that she wishes to remain anonymous. “Tyson is a famous celebrity and I know I would be attacked by the media and all of his friends,” she claims. If Tyson is found guilty he could owe the woman five million dollars, which is what she is suing him for. New York allows the victims of long ago sexual assaults to pursue legal justice through what is known as the “Adult Survivor’s Act.”
Tyson was found guilty of raping a then 18 year old victim in 1992 and subsequently spent three years in prison. He also admitted to striking first wife, television actress Robin Givens, in the 1980s. Fans, of course, know Tyson primarily for his dominance of the fight game from the late eighties through the mid nineties. Yet he was known for violent antics in the ring which went beyond the rules of the sport known as “the sweet science.” Most famously, Tyson was disqualified for biting part of the ear of arch rival Evander Holyfied off in a 1997 bout.
With that in mind, the United States sees citizens as being innocent of a crime until they are found guilty. As of press time, neither Tyson nor anyone representing Tyson has commented on the matter.
