The Key West Citizen's Traci Rork reports today on the bailout of Backstreet Boy Nick Carter. The 26-year-old former Paris Hilton beau was accused of sexually assaulting a 20-year-old Wisconsin tourist during a weekend of partying on the island in April. You can't get the story on the Citizen's web site without paying for it, but I obtained a copy on the sly:
The Monroe County State Attorney's Office has closed its investigation into the 20-year-old's allegations at her request."We reviewed the evidence with the victim and her mother and decided not to go forward with the case because this would have put her up for national vilification," Chief Assistant State Attorney Catherine Vogel said. "Since there is no physical evidence, it would have been her word against his and we took into consideration her wishes to ultimately drop the issue."
Vogel said some of the woman's account was believable, but prosecutors lacked strong physical evidence and witness corroboration.
"He's a pop star and somebody will find fault with us if we prosecute him or if we don't," she said.
The Citizen typically does not name suspects who have not been charged with a crime, but Carter, 26, is a high-profile national celebrity and his friend, Robert Kalouch, 31, is a well-known figure in the entertainment industry. According to published reports, he is or was a manager for boy band NSync and head of security for Nick's younger brother, Aaron.
So Carter got lucky -- his alleged victim didn't want to get shredded by the press and blogospheric mill. Rork's story also included detailed information on the allegations, which are fittingly sordid. The setting: Casa Antigua, a historic compound owned by former Key West Commissioner Tom Oosterhoudt. Here goes:
The witnesses' combined testimony paints a picture of a shy woman committed to her boyfriend who didn't know how to handle the situation when a night of drinking turned sexual.According to investigative reports obtained by The Citizen, the women arrived on March 26, a Saturday, and took a cab from the Key West International Airport to Oosterhoudt's house at 314 Simonton St. He showed them to their room and then took them to meet Carter and Kalouch at Denny's on Duval Street. From there, Key West Realtor Terri Spottswood took them house-hunting and then dropped them off at Half Shell Raw Bar for dinner.
The alleged victim told investigators that throughout the day, she became increasingly uncomfortable with Kalouch's groping and sexual advances, reports say. When they returned to Oosterhoudt's house and drank shots at the bar, Carter allegedly pulled down the victim's pants while Kalouch snapped a picture of her rear on her cell phone camera.
Oosterhoudt's mother reprimanded him for the noise around 1 a.m., so Carter, Kalouch and the two girls went to a guest room in the house and Oosterhoudt and Brennan went to sleep in another room, where they could not see or hear anything, reports say.
The woman claims when she told Kalouch she was a virgin to ward off his advances, Carter stuck his hand down her pants and molested her, saying, "You're lying, you are not a virgin," reports say. The woman said she ran into the bathroom, where Kalouch forced her to perform oral sex, even though she was crying, reports say. She said Carter came in and did the same, but stopped when he realized she was crying and said to Kalouch, "You always make your women cry," reports say.
The woman said she begged her uncooperative cousin to leave and was too afraid by herself, so she called her boyfriend and mother to help, reports say. Police confirmed that between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m., the woman sent nine text messages and made 18 calls to her boyfriend and mother. They called her 25 times, and asked local authorities to check on her. Not knowing she was at Casa Antigua, a Monroe County sheriff's deputy checked Carter's family's house in Marathon and found no one home, reports say.
The woman said she went to the airport the next morning without her cousin, who showed up later, reports say. The woman said they didn't speak because her cousin didn't believe her, reports say.
The cousin later told investigators it was possible that "something did happen sexually," and that the woman was too shy, quiet or embarrassed to say no, reports say. She said she saw Carter standing at the bathroom door for a long time and "she kept calling him back to bed but he wouldn't come back and stood there for the longest time. [She] did not know why he stood there so long," reports say.
She told investigators Carter told her he saw the woman crying while performing oral sex on Kalouch, so he "saved her" from him, reports say.
The day after she arrived home, the woman went to the West Allis Memorial Hospital for a physical examination. Officials there called the West Allis Police Department, who called the Key West Police Department.
This was not Carter's first run-in with the law. In 2005, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to probation for DUI in Orange County, Calif. In 2002, Tampa police handcuffed him because he ignored their orders to stop fighting with a woman and leave a downtown nightclub.
Well, to be fair to Carter, he looks almost valiant next to his buddy Kalouch. Both, however, should have been dragged to justice.
