Klaus Obermeyer Jr., son of 105-year-old Aspen icon Klaus Obermeyer, is being sued for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman over 22 years ago.

Obermeyer Jr., 56, a filmmaker at Rocket Film production company, was accused of drugging and raping a woman in New York between the end of 2002 and beginning of 2003, according to a lawsuit complaint filed Monday, April 7, to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. 

The plaintiff, a woman from the Australian state of Tasmania who was in her 20s at the time of the alleged crime, did not go to the police at the time because she had overstayed her visa. She feared being deported and losing her job, the plaintiff’s attorney, Albert J. Santoro of the New York-based The Bear Firm P.C., told The Aspen Times.

“This rape has been haunting her for 20-plus years, and she felt powerless,” Santoro said.

According to the complaint, the plaintiff met Obermeyer Jr. at an Aspen restaurant where she worked “in or around” 2001. The plaintiff was reintroduced to Obermeyer Jr. by a mutual friend in New York between the end of 2002 and the beginning of 2003. 

The plaintiff and Obermeyer Jr. attended a party where the plaintiff consumed alcohol, according to the complaint.

Obermeyer Jr. invited the plaintiff on a carriage ride in Central Park following the party, where they “consensually held hands and kissed.” During the ride, Obermeyer Jr. allegedly offered the plaintiff what he said was ecstasy, which the plaintiff accepted and ingested. The plaintiff lost consciousness sometime after consuming the substance.

According to the complaint, the plaintiff never consented to any sexual activity other than kissing and holding hands with Obermeyer Jr. before or after ingesting the substance.

When the plaintiff awoke, she was in a hotel room bed completely naked with symptoms “consistent with recent penetration occurring during sexual intercourse,” the complaint stated. 

The complaint continued that two men were in the room with her, one of whom was Obermeyer Jr., who was getting dressed. The other male remains unnamed. When the plaintiff asked Obermeyer Jr. what had happened, he allegedly replied, “I wasn’t going to let an unconscious woman go to waste.” The plaintiff understood Obermeyer’s statement to mean that while she was unconscious, Obermeyer sexually assaulted her. 

Oberemeyer Jr. and the other man left the room following the conversation, according to the complaint. 

After hearing the statement, the plaintiff immediately feared she had been impregnated or contracted sexually transmitted diseases from Obermeyer Jr., and entered a state of “confusion, shock, fear, sadness, vulnerability, anger, embarrassment and humiliation,” the complaint described.

She participated and continues to participate in countless therapy sessions as a result of Obermeyer Jr.’s alleged actions. The plaintiff will pursue an award of damages to be determined at trial and a permanent injunction against Oberemeyer Jr. from displaying, sharing, or selling any photographic or video recording depicting the plaintiff in any way or Obermeyer Jr.’s alleged assault of the plaintiff. 

Obermeyer Jr.’s legal team denied the allegations. Obermeyer Jr. hired Jonathan D. Davis, the same lawyer hired by Sean “Diddy” Combs amid his ongoing spate of sexual abuse cases. He also hired Gregory P. Korn, a California attorney of Kinsella Holley Iser Kump Steinsapir LLP firm. 

“Mr. Obermeyer denies (the plaintiff’s) false and revolting accusations,” the attorneys wrote in a statement to The Aspen Times. “Days before filing, she threatened Mr. Obermeyer with public exposure unless he paid her off. Without hesitation, he refused, preferring to unmask (the plaintiff’s) lies before a jury of his peers.”

Santoro said he is representing the plaintiff in a civil rather than criminal case because, in accordance with New York state law, a victim of this nature of assault must take criminal action within either 10 or 20 years of the alleged crime depending on the severity of the sexual assault charge.

Santoro said they conducted five months of research to corroborate the plaintiff’s story. 

“There’s at least five outcry witnesses that confirm her story,” Santoro said. “We would never bring a charge like that unless we confirmed it.”