Jermaine Jackson ordered to pay $6.5 million in sexual assault case

VAN NUYS, Calif. – A judge has ordered Jermaine Jackson to pay a $6.5 million default judgment to a woman who alleged the singer sexually assaulted the plaintiff at her home in 1988.

Rita Butler Barrett’s Van Nuys Superior Court lawsuit alleged sexual battery and assault and negligence.

On Thursday, Judge Elaine Mandel granted the woman’s request for judgment against Jackson for failing to take part in the case.

In June 2025, the former judge in the case, Huey Cotton, granted a motion by Barrett’s attorney, Michael Reck, to perform service by publication rather than present the summons and complaint to Jackson in person.

Cotton is also the judge presently presiding over the trial of the Iskander family’s lawsuit against Rebecca Grossman and two others stemming from the 2020 hit-run deaths of the Iskanders’ two boys.

In his court papers, Reck stated that the 71-year-old sibling of the late Michael Jackson could not be found at the Jackson family compound in Encino or at a Westlake Village home that was considered his possible residence.

Reck further said his office also hired private investigator Maureen O’Connell and her company to help with the search.

O’Connell said in a sworn statement that messages were left with an ex- wife and a daughter of Jackson.

“Despite these good-faith efforts, we have not received any responses or leads which would assist in identifying the current whereabouts of Jermaine Jackson,” O’Connell said.

In her lawsuit, Barrett said she met Jackson when she worked as a musician’s contractor, as a member of the Musician’s Union and through family connections to Motown founder Berry Gordy, who was in a business relationship with the plaintiff’s husband.

Gordy, now 96, was not a defendant in the suit.

Jackson allegedly went to Barrett’s home in the spring of 1988 without notice, entered and sexually assaulted her with “force and violence,” the suit filed in December 2023 stated.

Barrett feared for her life and the next day told Gordy what allegedly happened, but the music mogul “withheld and concealed the acts, further perpetuating the coverup and allowing Mr. Gordy, defendant Jackson and others in the business relationship to continue to reap profits derived from Mr. Jackson’s work and reputation for years to come,” the suit alleges.

Gordy soon thereafter sold Motown “for great profit,” the suit stated.

Barrett gave an account of what allegedly happened in her own sworn statement.

“While in my house, Jermaine Jackson gestured as though he was going to kiss me and I preemptively refused,” Barrett said. “I believe this refusal angered him and he pushed me down to the floor, climbed on top of me and proceeded to forcefully rape me.”

The alleged attack has caused Barrett long-term trauma and has negatively affected her family life as well as her personal connections with former colleagues, she further said.

As the primary bassist and second vocalist, Jermaine Jackson’s musicianship helped to ground the Jackson 5’s early Motown hits, allowing them to pull off complex live performances. (CNS)

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