Inside the Horrifying Sexual-Assault Case Involving Chris Brown

On Wednesday, Gloria Allred filed a lawsuit against singer Chris Brown and his friend Lowell Grissom Jr., aka “Young Lo,” on behalf of a Jane Doe. The suit alleges that, on the night of Feb. 23, 2017, Doe was forced to go to Chris Brown’s residence, where she was “repeatedly sexually assaulted while falsely imprisoned in one of the bedrooms of Brown’s house.”

According to the gruesome lawsuit, the plaintiff’s night began at the Los Angeles nightclub 1Oak, where she was invited to attend an “after party” at a recording studio with defendants Chris Brown and Lowell Grissom Jr. Jane Doe alleges that Grissom took away her cellphone before allowing her to enter the studio, because, “Brown did not want anyone to have their phones in the studio.” The lawsuit states that Doe asked for her phone back so that she could leave, and that “Grissom refused to return Plaintiff’s phone.” Doe believed that the only way to retrieve her phone would be to follow the group to Brown’s home. The suit further alleges that, once they arrived at the house, the defendants “continued to refuse to give Plaintiff back her phone and did not allow Plaintiff to leave.”

At Brown’s house, the lawsuit details, alcohol and drugs were allegedly provided to the guests. The suit alleges, “Brown handed each female guest, including Plaintiff, a clear pill filled with white powder and instructed them to take it to have a ‘good time.’” Doe claims she did not consume the pill. She further alleges that she saw “multiple guns” in the house, and was intimidated by both the weapons and the “general atmosphere at Brown’s house.” At this point the plaintiff’s mother, concerned about her whereabouts, allegedly tracked her daughter’s phone to Brown’s residence and called the police. When the police arrived, the lawsuit claims, “Brown refused to open the gate and denied the police access onto his property. Brown also ordered Grissom and others to hide a duffel bag filled with guns.”

While the police eventually left the premises, Jane Doe says she remained in the house, and claims that she saw Brown “carrying one gun in his waistband and brandishing it openly… She saw him wave it in the air, which further frightened and intimidated Plaintiff.”

The lawsuit goes on to allege that the defendants lured one of their female guests, the plaintiff’s then-roommate, into an upstairs bedroom “under the guise of allowing her to use her phone.” When Doe went upstairs to find her, “Plaintiff’s then-roommate informed her that Grissom and Brown wanted to be alone with the two of them in order to engage in sexual activity with them.” Doe claims that Grissom and Brown then “entered and closed the door behind them.”

A “Doe X,” who is believed to be a female friend of Brown’s, proceeded to enter the room with several other women. According to the lawsuit, “Brown ordered Grissom to push the couch in front of the bedroom door to prevent anyone from exiting the otherwise sealed room. Doe X then ordered the women in the room to take off their clothes and to ‘hook up’ with Brown and Grissom.”

Brown allegedly began to play loud music as well as pornography, and was “visibly excited by the pornography.” The lawsuit alleges that Brown and Grissom took off their clothes, as did some of the women in the room, and they began to engage in sexual activity. Jane Doe stated out loud that she was not interested in participating and that she wanted to leave.

The suit goes on to detail a series of alleged disturbing sexual assaults: First, Doe X ordered the plaintiff to perform sexual acts on Grissom; when she refused, Doe X “violently grabbed Plaintiff by the throat and forced Plaintiff to perform oral sex on Grissom.” Then, the naked Doe X “literally sat on top of Plaintiff’s face… while Doe X was forcing Plaintiff to perform oral sex on her, Grissom molested the lower half of Plaintiff’s body.”

Next, Doe X is alleged to have led the plaintiff to another bedroom so that she could take a shower. While she was in the shower, Grissom allegedly entered the bathroom and began to molest Jane Doe. According to the suit, “Plaintiff fled the bathroom, but Grissom pursued her, and pushed her down onto the bed and raped her.” Grissom is then alleged to have finally acquiesced to Jane Doe’s demands for her phone, promising that she could use her phone in the “laundry room.” Doe is said to have followed Grissom to the downstairs room where she received her phone and called a car. Grissom, the suit claims, proceeded to “forcibly rape” her again. Then, “He opened the gate and finally released plaintiff from Brown’s home.”

The lawsuit states that Jane Doe went to a rape treatment center and reported the incident to the police. When reached by Rolling Stone, the LAPD declined to confirm any details of the suit, saying that, “At this time, we do not have any open investigations against Chris Brown.”

In a statement announcing the suit, Allred wrote that, “This is one of the most horrific cases involving alleged sexual assaults that I have ever seen, and our client, Jane Doe, has been severely traumatized by what she was forced to suffer.”

Allred continued: “She filed this lawsuit because she wants justice for herself, but she also wants to warn other young women about the potential danger to themselves if they have their phone taken away and if they go to Chris Brown’s house. She does not want any other young woman to endure the violent sexual assaults that she was forced to endure in an environment of guns and drugs.”

Her statement concluded, “We look forward to our client having the opportunity to have her day in court. We want to hold accountable those who were responsible for the gender violence inflicted upon her.”