LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) – A woman who is well-known among Aerosmith circles, Julia Misley (fka Julia Holcomb), filed suit on Tuesday (December 27) against lead singer Steven Tyler in Los Angeles County alleging sexual assault, coercion of an abortion and involuntary infamy in the 1970s when Tyler was in his mid-20s, and she was a minor.
The suit was filed under the California Child Victims Act, which allows survivors of childhood sexual abuse to file civil cases. The “lookback” window ended Saturday, according to CNN.
In a statement, Misley said the change in the law encouraged her to push forward with the legal action. “I want this action to expose an industry that protects celebrity offenders, to cleanse and hold accountable an industry that both exploited and allowed me to be exploited for years, along with so many other naive and vulnerable kids and adults.”
According to the lawsuit, Plaintiff met Tyler after a concert in Portland, Oregon, in 1973 when Misley was 16 and Tyler was 25. The lawsuit states that Tyler, 74, took Misley to his hotel room and “performed various acts of criminal sexual conduct” upon her that night. The lawsuit also alleges Tyler purchased a plane ticket for her to join him in Seattle for the band’s next show. She says she was abused after that show as well.
In a twist, Tyler convinced Misley’s mother to sign over guardianship of her daughter to him so he could cross over state lines with her and not get in legal trouble. In addition, the suit said that Tyler promised her mother that he would make sure she went to school, support her, and provide her with better medical care than her mother could provide at the time, according to the filing.
“Defendant Doe 1 did not meaningfully follow through on these promises and instead continued to travel with, assault and provide alcohol and drugs to the plaintiff,” the lawsuit alleges.
The suit also alleges that Tyler coerced her to have an abortion once she became pregnant with his baby.
“DEFENDANT DOE 1 (Tyler) pressured and coerced Plaintiff to have an abortion by threatening that he would send her back to her family and cease to support and love her,” according to the lawsuit. “Plaintiff relented, and the abortion was performed,” the suit added.
Her lawsuit further alleges that Tyler has “intentionally publicized the acts he perpetrated” on Misley through books that were published. For example, in his 2011 memoir, “Does the Noise in My Head Bother You? Tyler writes about being so in love he “almost took a teen bride,” but the book does not identify said bride by name.
“I went and slept at her parents’ house for a couple of nights, and her parents fell in love with me, signed papers over for me to have custody, so I wouldn’t get arrested if I took her out of state. I took her on tour with me,” he wrote in the book.
Misley claims that the book retraumatized her and her family and, in her statement, says she’s grateful for the opportunity to take action and be heard.
Misley wrote a memoir of her own in 2011 titled, The Light of the World – the Steven Tyler and Julia Holcomb Story, published on LifeSiteNews.
“The complaint that has been prepared by my legal team recites in legal terms the trajectory of my life from early struggles to exploitation by Steven Tyler, the music industry, my escape from that world, my recovery and transformation, my restoration of spirit through faith, the building of a family and the rebuilding of my life,” Misley said in a statement.
Misley is now Pro-Life and writes in her Ambassador Speakers biography:
“I pray that our nation may find its way back to God’s plan by respecting the life of unborn children and strengthening the sanctity of marriage.” She is married to her husband of 30 years and has seven children.
Tyler’s camp has not responded to the allegations as of press time.
