Broadway producer Gary Goddard has filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit alleging he sexually assaulted a British teenager.
Goddard, who has also been accused of sexual assault by Michael Egan, filed the motion in federal District Court in California on Thursday.
The lawsuit, filed by an anonymous plaintiff in May, claims that Goddard contacted the teen via social media in 2003 when he was 14. The relationship allegedly escalated to nude webcam sessions when he was 15.
Ultimately, the suit claims, Goddard laid in a bed naked with the boy in a London hotel room when he was 15, and had sex with him when he was 16.
Goddard’s motion states, in part, that two of the counts in the complaint do not violate English law.
Also read: Hollywood Sex Ring Case: Gary Goddard’s Lawyer Blasts ‘Cookie-Cutter’ Allegations
The motion also states that the entire complaint should be dismissed because the plaintiff has no justification for proceeding with the case anonymously.
A memorandum in support of Goddard’s motion to dismiss accuses the plaintiff, identified as John Doe 117, of latching onto the publicity created by the Egan lawsuit.
“The reason why Plaintiff did not file suit until 2014, more than eight (8) years after the last act of alleged sexual activity, is transparent: there was no, and never has been any, misconduct by Mr. Goddard,” the memorandum reads. “Indeed, it was not until a widely publicized press conference by another plaintiff represented by the same plaintiff’s counsel in a different case, who shamelessly made demonstrably false sexual conduct against four Hollywood executives, including Mr. Goddard, that Plaintiff decided he would tag along for the ride.”
Goddard has also filed to have Egan’s lawsuit dismissed.
Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.