Legendary singer-songwriter Smokey Robinson and his wife, Frances Robinson, on Tuesday urged a court to issue a temporary restraining order against one of the women who has accused him of sexual assault. The couple says the woman broke into their storage unit and stole “thousands of dollars’” worth of personal property.
Alleged Break-in and Theft
According to court documents filed on Monday, the couple claims a woman known as “Jane Doe 4” — one of several accusers in a civil suit — used a key she retained after leaving employment with the Robinsons to enter a family storage unit on Nov. 22. Prosecutors allege she, along with two accomplices, spent roughly 40 minutes inside before leaving with multiple boxes.
“All of this is captured on security camera footage from the storage facility showing Jane Doe 4 stealing box after box … loading the items into a car,” the filing reads. Frances Robinson says she watched the footage on Dec. 8 and “without question” recognized the woman as the accuser.
Among the items allegedly removed were two five-foot Santa Claus statues, described in the filing as personal and sentimental property. The Robinsons are now asking the court to order the return of those items, surrender of any keys or access devices, and require the woman stay at least 100 yards away from them.
Lawyers representing Jane Doe 4 strongly rejected the theft allegations, calling them “patently false.” In a statement they wrote the claims are “a desperate fabrication intended to retaliate against Jane Doe 4 following her damning testimony during her December 5 deposition.”
They further argue the assault on her character is a transparent attempt to overshadow more serious allegations in the civil suit. “These baseless claims are nothing more than an attempt to distract and deflect from the serious new allegations brought by John Doe 1 and Jane Doe 5,” their filing states.
Jane Doe 4 is one of four women who in May filed a civil lawsuit alleging that Robinson sexually assaulted or raped them repeated times between 2007 and 2024 while they worked for him. The suit seeks at least $50 million in damages.
Robinson and his wife responded by filing a $500 million countersuit in May, alleging the claims are part of a defamation and extortion campaign.
In the current filing, Robinson’s attorney, Christopher Frost, said the break-in is “a blatantly criminal act” and further evidence of what he described as the accusers’ “greed.” He said the couple would take “swift action” to protect themselves.
The accuser’s attorneys say the theft accusations are nothing more than a retaliatory distraction. They believe the court should reject the restraining order and continue focusing on the core civil claims of sexual assault and workplace abuse.