An L.A. jury says Ricky Garcia, from the boy band Forever in Your Mind, was indeed sexually abused by his former manager back when the singer was a teenager … TMZ has learned.
The jury returned the verdict Friday, finding Joby Harte liable for childhood sexual abuse, gender violence and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The jury also hit Harte with an 7-figure judgment — awarding Ricky $5.5 million in compensatory damages, and another $1 mil in punitive damages.
The verdict brings an end to a lengthy case for Ricky, who was 20 years old back in 2019 when he filed the lawsuit against Harte … alleging he had groomed and assaulted him for several years, starting when Ricky was just 12.
Ricky joined Forever in Your Mind after auditioning for season 3 of “The X Factor” — he impressed Simon Cowell enough to get an invitation to join the group. He was also a child actor, co-starring in more than 30 episodes of the Disney Channel show, “Best Friends Whenever.”
But, in his lawsuit, Ricky said show biz took a dark turn for him when Harte took the band on trips he described as songwriting sessions. The singer says Harte got him drunk and he woke up naked on Harte’s bed.
On other occasions, Ricky says Harte forced him to perform sex acts while he was under the age of 18. He said he was afraid he’d lose his career, so he remained silent for years … until he and his mother confronted Harte, and then filed the lawsuit against him.
During the legal battle, Ricky was represented by Dan Tapetillo from from Geragos & Geragos, and Amanda Brookhyser from Zumpano Patricios and Popok.