Bob Dylan sued for allegedly sexually abusing girl in 1965

New York (AFP) - Bob Dylan has been sued in a New York court by a woman who says the US rock and folk legend sexually abused her almost 60 years ago when she was 12.

The lawsuit filed Friday alleges that Dylan abused the plaintiff, referred to in court documents as J.C., over a six-week period between April and May 1965.

It says Dylan "exploited his status as a musician to provide J.C. with alcohol and drugs and sexually abuse her multiple times."

The suit also accused Dylan, who turned 80 in May, of physically threatening the girl.

The alleged abuse took place at the apartment Dylan owned in New York's famous Chelsea Hotel, according to the lawsuit.

A publicist for Dylan, whose real name is Robert Zimmerman, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from AFP.

In a statement to USA Today, his spokesperson said "the 56-year-old claim is untrue and will be vigorously defended."

Dylan is widely considered to be the greatest singer-songwriter of all time. His most notable works include "Blowin' In The Wind," "The Times They Are a-Changin'," and "Like A Rolling Stone."

He burst onto the folk scene in New York in the early 1960s and has sold more than 125 million records around the world.

Dylan won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016 "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition."