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Ex-babysitter sues Sandman author Neil Gaiman for sexual assault

Scarlett Pavlovich also filed lawsuits against Gaiman’s ex-wife, singer Amanda Palmer, who had invited her into the couple’s New Zealand home

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Neil Gaiman arrives at a gala in Los Angeles in January 2024. Photo: AP
A woman from New Zealand has filed three civil lawsuits accusing bestselling British author Neil Gaiman of repeatedly sexually assaulting her while she was working as his family’s babysitter and nanny.
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Scarlett Pavlovich filed the lawsuits – one against Gaiman and his ex-wife, Amanda Palmer, and two more against Palmer – in federal court in Wisconsin, Massachusetts and New York on Monday.

Pavlovich identified herself in an interview with New York Magazine, which published an article in January detailing allegations of assault, abuse and coercion levelled by eight women.

Pavlovich alleges in the lawsuits that she was homeless and living on a beach when she met Palmer in Auckland, New Zealand, in 2020. Pavlovich was 22 years old at the time.

According to the lawsuits, Palmer invited Pavlovich to the couple’s home on Waiheke Island. Pavlovich began running errands for the couple, babysitting their son and helping with chores, eventually becoming the couple’s nanny.

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Gaiman first sexually assaulted her the night they met in February 2022, according to the lawsuits. The assaults continued but she kept working for the couple because she was broke and homeless and Gaiman had told her he would help her writing career, according to the lawsuits.

Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer pose at a party in Austin, Texas, in March 2013. Photo: TNS
Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer pose at a party in Austin, Texas, in March 2013. Photo: TNS
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