Jermaine Jackson has been ordered to pay over $6.5 million in damages after failing to respond to a rape and sexual assault lawsuit.
Per TMZ, Rita Butler Barrett, Jackson’s accuser, alleged in a 2023 complaint that he sexually assaulted her in 1988 after forcing his way into her home.
According to a default judgment filed Thursday, May 14, in Los Angeles County Superior Court, the former Jackson 5 member must pay the damages and other costs to Barrett.
Prior to the judgement, Barrett’s lawyers failed to track Jackson down, but eventually received court approval to serve him legal notice in The Los Angeles Times. Last month, having received no response from Jackson, Barrett’s lawyers filed a 95-page document arguing for a default judgment. The judge also ordered Jackson to pay Barrett legal costs of $7,131.84.
How Barrett and Jackson met
As PEOPLE reports, Barrett knew Jackson because her husband, Ben Barrett, worked for Motown founder Berry Gordy.
She alleged that Gordy had a “business and/or management relationship” with Jackson at the time of the alleged assault.
“During the assault, Plaintiff, a woman of faith, prayed to God for help,” the complaint states. “During the assault, Plaintiff feared for her life.”
Barrett says she reported the assault to Gordy and accused him and others of hiding the incident for “the purpose of profit and preservation of reputation.”
Although the assault allegedly took place in 1988, Barrett was able to file a lawsuit in 2023 thanks to the Sexual Abuse and Cover Up Accountability Act, which provided a one-year window for survivors to file claims that otherwise would have fallen outside the statute of limitations if there was a cover-up.
The news comes just weeks after Jackson appeared alongside his son, Jaafar Jackson, at the Los Angeles premiere of Michael, the biopic in which Jaafar portrays the late singer.