JMA/STAR MAX/IPx via AP ImagesFormer Disney Channel star Kyle Massey is maintaining his innocence.
After Washington state prosecutors charged the 29-year-old with one count of communication with a minor for immoral purposes, the That’s So Raven alum is speaking out, slamming the claim that he allegedly sent inappropriate messages and images to the teen—an accusation first made in a 2019 civil lawsuit that was later dropped.
“It is unfortunate that Kyle Massey had to learn through the media yesterday that the 2019 allegations have resurfaced in the State of Washington a year after their dismissal,” the actor’s lawyer said in a June 30 statement to E! News. “Massey claims that the allegations then and now are extortive.”
The attorney added, “Massey intends to aggressively defend these accusations again and will seek civil damages from those that refuse to hear the facts. We plan to seek an early dismissal—finally putting these extortive attempts to rest.”
Between December 2018 and January 2019, Massey allegedly communicated with a 13-year-old girl, who is now 16. According to the court filing, Massey allegedly “believed” she was a minor when he electronically communicated with her “for immoral purposes of a sexual nature.”
“The statements made to the police regarding the accuser’s own counsel’s advice seem peculiar, tearing away the veracity from the stale allegations,” Massey’s lawyer added. “The accusers in no hidden agenda attempt to use the Washington courts as a platform for revenge after losing the civil matter. Indeed, California counsel withdrew from representation from the accuser leaving us to conclude that he was not willing to make misrepresentations to the court.”
In 2019, the girl’s mother sued Massey in civil court in California for $1.5 million over his alleged behavior but eventually realized he “didn’t have enough money to make the case worth it” and dropped the lawsuit, according to a police statement noted in the criminal filing by the prosecuting attorney for King County, Wash. After the civil lawsuit was filed, Massey’s lawyer said in a statement that the actor denied “any alleged misconduct” and called the filing an “extortion attempt.”
After dropping the suit, the girl’s mother contacted police in Washington, where the family lived during the pair’s alleged communication, to move forward with criminal allegations. The teen’s mom provided the authorities with a thumb drive allegedly containing explicit photos and videos that the actor sent her daughter, telling them Massey knew her child since she was 4 and was well aware of her current age, Washington authorities said in the court filing.
After being issued his recent felony charge, Massey failed to appear for his arraignment in court on Monday, June 28, the King County Superior Court Clerk’s Office told E! News. However, a bench warrant wasn’t issued.
“The Washington matter is already showing problematic signs,” the actor’s attorney said in their statement on Wednesday. “Massey was never properly served or notified as represented to the court and the pleadings are procedurally and substantively deficient on its face.”
A new arraignment date was set for July 12.
According to a June 14 court motion obtained by E! News, Massey is prohibited from having contact with minor children “except in the presence of a responsible adult” and is also not allowed to go online without a computer monitoring system.
