Bob Dylan heaves a sigh of relief as accuser drops abuse lawsuit

New York: A woman who sued Bob Dylan for allegedly sexually abusing her when she was 12 has dropped her case, just after the folk-rock artist´s legal team accused her of destroying evidence.

In August of last year the plaintiff, who remains unnamed and was identified only as J.C., had filed a suit alleging that Dylan abused her over a six-week period between April and May of 1965.

It alleged Dylan "exploited his status as a musician" to provide "alcohol and drugs and sexually abuse her multiple times" at the famed Chelsea hotel in Manhattan.

The suit also accused Dylan, who turned 81 in May, of physically threatening the girl.

At the time a spokesperson for Dylan, who was born Robert Zimmerman, had dubbed the accusation "untrue."

In a letter Dylan´s legal team filed with the federal court on Wednesday, they accused the plaintiff of deleting important text messages, and suggested that "monetary sanctions" were necessary.

On Thursday Dylan´s lawyers said the plaintiff had dropped the case. Lawyers for the plaintiff did not immediately respond to request for comment.