The statute of limitations allows pop singer Kesha to pursue criminal action against the man she accuses of sexually assaulting her, music producer Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald, an LAPD spokesperson told TheWrap.
“She could file a report of that if she’s never done so, she meets the conditions of the statute of limitations,” Detective Meghan Aguilar said. “Whether the DA would decide to go forward is up to that office.”
The singer sued Gottwald in civil court in 2014, alleging the producer abused her over a decade, including drugging and raping her, then threatened to destroy her career if she came forward. No police or medical reports were filed.
On Twitter Monday, Gottwald said the allegations against him were “horrendous and untrue.”
When asked if the office would pursue criminal charges, a representative for Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey said she would “not comment on hypothetical questions about possible crimes or charges. If no crime was reported, then no case was presented.”
Gottwald’s team has made an issue of Kesha’s not reporting her assault allegations to police.
“Kesha never reported any purported abuse or rape to any law enforcement authority, or even to Sony Music, and further swore under oath in another matter, while accompanied by her team of lawyers, that it never occurred,” his lawyers said in a statement.
Kesha, whose real name is Kesha Rose Sebert, contended in her complaint that Gottwald told her she was “nothing but his pawn, and if she did not obey his orders, that he would end her career.”
Among the more harrowing allegations made by Kesha was that Gottwald forced her to “snort an illicit drug” before a flight and “continuously forced himself” on her “while she was intoxicated and drugged.” She also alleges that Gottwald gave her GHB and raped her while she was unconscious.
At issue in the civil suit is Kesha’s contract with Gottwald’s record label, housed at Sony Music. On Friday, a judge denied a motion by the singer in which she sought freedom from her requirement to record six more albums with Dr. Luke.
The court may have sided with Gottwald, but Kesha devotees and other powerful female voices in pop music are standing in her corner. Kelly Clarkson, Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato, Lady Gaga and Lorde have all made statements of support.