Bob Dylan denies sexually abusing girl in 1965

Image source, Reuters

Image caption, Dylan's songs include Like a Rolling Stone, Blowin' In The Wind and The Times They Are a-Changin'

Bob Dylan is being sued by a woman who says the US singer-songwriter sexually abused her in 1965 when she was 12.

Her legal case alleges the rock star "exploited his status as a musician to provide [her] with alcohol and drugs and sexually abuse her multiple times", and used threats of physical violence.

It says the abuse took place at Dylan's apartment in New York's Chelsea Hotel.

Dylan's spokesman told the 大象传媒 "the 56-year-old claim is untrue and will be vigorously defended".

The accuser, who is now 68 and lives in the state of Connecticut, is only identified by the initials JC.

She said the abuse took place over a six-week period between April and May 1965.

From the end of April to 10 May, the singer was in the UK on a tour that was documented in the film Don't Look Back. According to Clinton Heylin's Dylan chronology A Life in Stolen Moments, he was then in the UK, France and Portugal until the start of June.

Image caption, Dylan had become a major star by 1965

The Nobel Prize-winning singer, now 80, is accused of assault, battery, false imprisonment and infliction of emotional distress.

The accuser said he had caused her "severe psychological damage and emotional trauma", and is seeking unspecified damages and a jury trial.

According to JC, the star carried out "predatory, sexual and unlawful acts", which were allegedly "done intentionally by him to her without her consent".

She claimed to have suffered "severe mental distress, anguish, humiliation and embarrassment, as well as economic losses".

The legal documents were filed on Friday at the New York Supreme Court under the state's Child Victims Act. The claim was submitted a day before the closure of a temporary legal "look back window" in New York, which allowed historical abuse allegations to be filed.

Dylan - who was born Robert Allen Zimmerman - has sold more than 125 million albums around the world during a career spanning six decades. His best-known songs include Blowin' In The Wind and The Times They Are a-Changin'.

In 2016, the Grammy and Oscar-winner was given the Nobel Prize in Literature, becoming the first songwriter to win the prestigious award. He was also awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012 by then-President Barack Obama.