Cyndi Lauper’s husband, David Thornton, has been sued by an anonymous woman over allegations that the couple’s son, Declyn “Dex” Lauper, sexually assaulted her in New York City five years ago.
The purported victim filed her complaint against Thornton, 72, with the New York Supreme Court on Monday, according to court documents obtained by Page Six.
She alleged that Declyn, now 28, “brutally sexually assaulted” her inside a New York City apartment on Nov. 9, 2020, in the lawsuit.
The anonymous woman, referred to as Jane Doe in the complaint, claimed that the alleged incident began when Lauper’s troubled son sent her $60 “for her to travel with a private car from her
residence to” the apartment.
Declyn allegedly “seemed agitated” upon her arrival, and Jane Doe claimed that the pair “soon disagreed about a sexual act” Declyn wanted her to perform on him, per the complaint.
Jane Doe further claimed that Lauper and Thornton’s son took her cellphone when she insisted on leaving the premises and threatened to break the device if she didn’t “perform fellatio on him.”
When the suspected victim refused, Declyn allegedly “pushed Jane Doe onto his bed” and “proceeded to forcibly smother his genitals” over her mouth.
Although Jane Doe claimed that she “did not want to hurt” Lauper’s son, she purportedly “gently placed her teeth on his genitals in an attempt to get him off of her.”
Declyn allegedly proceeded to put “all of his body weight into Jane Doe’s head and neck down onto his bed” until “they both heard a pop sound from her neck and upper spine,” at which point he let her go, according to the complaint.
“You see, I told you not to do that,” Declyn allegedly yelled at Jane Doe, per the court documents. He also allegedly called her a “bitch” and a “n—a” and told his purported victim that “no one would believe her if she ever repeated what had just transpired.”
Jane Doe claimed that she took Declyn’s cellphone in an effort to get her own device back, and that the pair eventually returned each other’s phones before he “demanded” she leave the apartment.
However, the anonymous woman claimed that she left her phone charger in the apartment’s kitchen and returned to the premises to retrieve it.
After “walking through the building’s lobby” after obtaining her charger, Declyn allegedly called Jane Doe “saying that he was sorry for what he had just done to her,” per the complaint.
However, Jane Doe isn’t suing Declyn for sexual assault. Instead, she filed a lawsuit against Thornton for allegedly enabling his son’s conduct by leasing the apartment where the purported incident took place.
The anonymous woman also alleged that Lauper’s husband provided Declyn with the apartment “with actual knowledge of his son’s prior sexual violence against women” and the “settlements of claims arising therefrom.”
“By providing the Premises to his son without adequate supervision or restriction, knowing of his son’s violent and sexually abusive propensities, [Thornton] enabled the gender-motivated violence that occurred,” the lawsuit read.
Jane Doe also cited Declyn’s ex-girlfriend, “Love & Hip Hop: New York” alum Brittney Taylor, in the lawsuit, and Taylor’s 2018 allegations of “physical and verbal domestic violence” against Declyn “during their romantic relationship.”
“Despite this knowledge of his son’s prior sexual violence against women and the settlements of claims arising therefrom, [Thornton] failed to take any action to supervise, restrict, or prevent his son from using the Premises to perpetrate sexual violence,” the complaint read.
Jane Doe claimed to have suffered “physical injury, pain and suffering, emotional distress, humiliation, embarrassment, stress and anxiety, loss of self-esteem and self-confidence, and emotional pain and suffering” as a result of the alleged November 2020 incident.
She is seeking unspecified compensatory damages, punitive damages and attorneys’ fees and costs from Thornton, per the complaint.
Reps for Lauper and her son did not immediately respond to Page Six’s requests for comment.
The “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” singer, 72, and Thornton tied the knot in 1991 and welcomed Declyn in 1997.
Lauper’s son previously made headlines when he was arrested and charged with criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree and criminal possession of a firearm after his friend was found shot in the leg in Harlem in February 2024.
However, he avoided prison time for the gun charge earlier this month by pleading guilty in a plea deal. Instead, he was ordered to complete one year of interim probation and mandatory substance abuse treatment.
Read the full article here
