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Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary accused of raping underage girl in hotel room in 1969
By Melissa Roberto
Published February 25, 2021
Peter Yarrow of the 1960s folk group Peter, Paul and Mary has been accused in a new lawsuit of raping an underage girl in his hotel room in 1969.
A woman named Deborah Martin filed a complaint against Yarrow, 82, and the musical trio's employer, in Manhattan Supreme Court on Wednesday under the state's Child Victims Act.
In the complaint obtained by Fox News, Yarrow is accused of sexual abuse of a child, negligence, assault, battery, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. It also lodges a claim against the Peter, Paul & Mary, Co. for negligence and negligent hiring, retention and supervision.
An attorney for Yarrow, as well as reps for the Peter, Paul and Mary, Co. did not immediately respond to Fox News' requests for comment.
"Mr. Yarrow and his company, Peter Paul and Mary, bear obvious responsibility for his egregious behaviors towards this teenager in 1969," Martin's attorney Lisa Coppola told Fox News in a written statement. "It's reprehensible that he tricked her and then raped her in a hotel room. The Child Victims Act gives long-suffering adults an avenue to finally seek justice."
Martin alleges in the complaint that she was a fan of Peter, Paul and Mary, and even met members of the group during her youth. Martin had "several seemingly-friendly interactions with Yarrow," according to the complaint, and claims Yarrow groomed the plaintiff.
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In 1969, the alleged victim ran away from her St. Paul, Minn. home and called Yarrow. The folk musician "directed Martin to meet him in the lobby of a hotel on the Lower East Side of Manhattan."
Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary is accused of 'grooming' and sexually abusing an underage girl in his hotel room in 1969. (AP)
"Martin complied, meeting Yarrow at the hotel room he booked and paid for. In 1969, Yarrow raped Martin...in the hotel room," the complaint alleges.
The complaint claims Martin was under the age of 18 during the alleged rape.
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"As a direct result of the Yarrow's conduct, Martin suffered anad will continue to suffer great pain of mind and body, conscious pain and suffering, psychological suffering, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, severe and permanent emotional distress, physical manifestations of emotional distress," among other feelings of "worthlessness" and shame, the document further alleges.
The court docs claim Peter, Paul & Mary, Co. "had a duty to conduct appropriate and proper hiring, screening, and retention practices to prevent the hiring and retention of those who may pose a risk of harm, including but not limited to sexual abuse as well as emotional abuse, to minors."
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Yarrow was previously convicted for taking "indecent liberties" with a 14-year-old girl in 1970. The offense was later pardoned by former President Jimmy Carter.
https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/peter-yarrow-peter-paul-mary-accused-rape-underage-girl-hotel