Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs accused of 1991 sexual assault in second suit

NEW YORK – Sean Combs has been accused of drugging and sexually assaulting a university student in 1991 in a lawsuit filed in a New York court on Nov 23, the second suit of its kind filed against the American hip-hop mogul in the past week.

The complaint against Combs, 54, was among a flurry of lawsuits filed this week against public figures under New York state’s Adult Survivors Act, ahead of the expiry of a special one-year window for such complaints. The law allows such lawsuits to be filed in court even if the statute of limitations has run out.

The lawsuit alleges Combs drugged and sexually assaulted Ms Joi Dickerson-Neal, who was a Syracuse University student visiting New York City at the time of the alleged incident in January 1991.

Combs, also known as both Puff Daddy or Diddy, is also accused of videotaping the alleged crime and distributing the tape to others in the music industry.

“The sexual assault, and public exposure of it, caused her to suffer overwhelming feelings of humiliation, embarrassment, violation and constant apprehension about who viewed it,” lawyers for Ms Dickerson-Neal wrote in the complaint.

Ms Dickerson-Neal is seeking unspecified compensatory damages for mental and emotional injury, distress, pain and suffering, and injury to her reputation, according to the lawsuit.

A spokesperson for Combs said Ms Dickerson-Neal’s story is “made up and not credible”, and that the rapper never assaulted her. “This is purely a money grab and nothing more,” the spokesperson said in an e-mail.

The complaint against Combs comes a week after

he settled a lawsuit by his former girlfriend, R&B vocalist Casandra Ventura

, who accused the rapper of serial physical abuse, sexual slavery and rape. Combs had strongly denied the allegations.

The founder of Bad Boy Records is one of the most influential producers and executives in hip-hop, as well as the impresario of his own Sean John clothing line. REUTERS