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A judge has dismissed rape claims from one of the many civil lawsuits against Sean “Diddy” Combs, ruling that the statute of limitations has expired for allegations that the rap mogul forced a woman to have intercourse and oral sex in the 1990s.
April Lampros’ claims against Combs were trimmed down in a Tuesday (July 8) ruling from New York Judge Leslie A. Stroth. Lampros was the seventh accuser to file a sexual abuse lawsuit against Combs in May 2024 — relatively early in the rapper’s legal salvo that culminated in a criminal trial this month.
Lampros alleged she met Combs when she was a student at the Fashion Institute of Technology in 1994, and that he drugged and raped her both vaginally and orally on two separate nights in 1995. Combs allegedly raped Lampros again after forcing her to have sex with his then-girlfriend Kim Porter in 1996, the lawsuit claimed.
Lampros’ attorney, Tyrone Blackburn, brought the claims under New York City’s Gender Motivated Violence Act, which was amended in 2022 to open up a two-year window for sexual assault victims to file claims that would typically be barred by the statute of limitations.
But Judge Stroth says that pursuant to a recent ruling from a New York appellate court, this claims window only applies to alleged instances of sexual abuse that occurred after the GMVA’s original passage in December 2000.
“Therefore, plaintiff’s claims for acts before December 19, 2000 are dismissed as untimely,” writes the judge.
This means all three instances when Combs allegedly raped Lampros are no longer part of her lawsuit. She is allowed, however, to continue suing Combs over a fourth incident in which she says the rapper forcibly kissed and groped her in the early aughts. Lampros does not know the exact date of this encounter, saying it happened in either late 2000 or early 2001.
“To the extent that there is a question as to conduct occurring in the year 2000, such are not dismissed at this time, as further discovery is needed to determine the exact date of the alleged incidents,” says Judge Stroth.
Combs’ reps celebrated the decision in a statement on Tuesday, which they say “significantly narrow[s] the civil case.”
“Importantly, this ruling was made at the pleading stage, and no evidence on the surviving claim has been submitted to the court,” added Combs’ team. “Mr. Combs has not yet had an opportunity to contest those false allegations, and the court’s decision thus does not address their truth.”
Blackburn, who’s behind many of the pending civil sexual assault suits against Combs, tells Billboard he’s proceeding “full steam ahead” with Lampros’ remaining claim.
“I sent Sean Combs’ counsel notice that I intend to depose Sean Combs within 60 days, and I will be serving discovery demands this evening,” Blackburn says.
Lampros sued Combs early in the litigation onslaught that began with singer Cassie Ventura in November 2023. Combs quickly settled Ventura’s case for $20 million, but a deluge of similar lawsuits followed. Prosecutors opened a criminal investigation, and Combs was indicted and arrested last year on charges of sex-trafficking, racketeering and prostitution.
Last week, Combs was convicted of the prostitution counts after a seven-week trial, but jurors acquitted him of running a criminal enterprise and forcing Ventura and another anonymous woman known as “Jane” to have sex with escorts during drug-fueled sex marathons he called “freak-offs.”
The rap mogul, who’s denied all allegations in both the criminal and civil cases, is due for sentencing in October. In the meantime, eh’s continuing to fight the lawsuits brought by Lampros and dozens of other alleged victims.
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