|
Lopes denied any wrongdoing and said he would not be afraid to
take legal action against anyone who tried to defame him.
"I would never drug anyone and I would never take advantage of a
woman who was incapacitated, whether due to excessive alcohol or
the influence of any other substances," he said in a statement
on Tuesday. "Neither today nor 17 years ago."
Lukas lodged a lawsuit in federal court in New York on Monday
against the Portuguese actor, now 45, who starred in the Netflix
mystery thriller series White Lines.
The filing was seen by Reuters and the incident is said to have
occurred after a premiere party linked to the Tribeca Film
Festival in New York in 2006. Lukas' lawsuit seeks compensatory
and punitive damages.
Lukas, who directed romantic comedy Hollidaysburg, filed her
claim under New York's Adult Survivors Act, which expires on
Thursday. It gave adults one year to sue over historic sexual
abuse, even if statutes of limitations have expired.
Lukas had a forensic examination for sexual assault done the day
after the incident at a hospital and "reported the rape to the
police," the court filing says.
More than 2,500 actions have been filed under the act, many of
them against county jails and state prisons, media reports say.
Reuters was not immediately able to confirm those numbers.
In a statement, the law firm representing Lukas, Wigdor LLP,
said the alleged rape "caused severe psychological and emotional
trauma that Lukas must manage to this day", including
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
"We cannot accept a world in which perpetrators of heinous,
inhumane behaviour are able to live their lives out in the open,
with impunity and no social consequences, while their victims
suffer in silence," Lukas said in a statement.
Lukas' case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern
District of New York.
(Reporting by Catarina Demony; Editing by Aislinn Laing and
Bernadette Baum)
[© 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
