Ricky Garcia, a member of the boy band “Forever in Your Mind,” has won the rape case filed against his former manager.
A Los Angeles jury determined that the singer was sexually molested by his former manager when he was a teenager.
On Friday, March 8, the jury found Joby Harte responsible for childhood sexual assault, gender violence, and deliberate infliction of emotional distress. The jury also imposed a seven-figure judgement on Harte, giving Ricky $5.5 million in compensatory damages and an additional $1 million in punitive penalties.
The verdict concludes a lengthy process for Ricky, who was 20 years old when he launched the claim against Harte in 2019, stating that he had groomed and assaulted him for several years. According to reports, Ricky was just 12 years old when this began.
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Ricky joined Forever in Your Mind after auditioning for season 3 of “The X Factor” and impressing music mogul Simon Cowell sufficiently to be invited to join the group. He was also a kid actor, appearing in over 30 episodes of the Disney Channel series “Best Friends Whenever.”
Ricky said in his lawsuit that Harte led the band on travels he described as songwriting sessions, which turned his show business career upside down. The singer claimed Harte got him drunk, and he awoke naked on Harte’s bed.
On other occasions, Ricky claimed Harte compelled him to engage in s*x acts while under the age of 18. He claimed he was frightened of losing his profession, so he remained silent for years until he and his mother confronted Harte and filed the complaint against him.
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