Wayne Newton is being sued over claims that his pet monkey, Boo, bit a 15 year old girl who was visiting his former Las Vegas estate.
According to the Associated Press, the incident allegedly happened two years ago at Casa de Shenandoah. A mother named Jocelyne filed a civil negligence complaint on Wednesday, August 7, 2019, on behalf of her daughter. The lawsuit seeks $15,000 in damages.
The family’s attorney says the monkey bit the girl without being provoked and that she received hospital treatment for a bite to her right wrist. The attorney also claims the monkey was not caged or on a leash during the visit. He told reporters he was unsure whether anyone in the Newton family was at the estate that day.
Newton and his wife, Kathleen, responded in a statement to PEOPLE. They said they had not yet seen the complaint and that their company stopped running the estate on July 1, 2017, months before the visit in question, after Wayne nearly died from a spider bite. “So we are not a party and have no idea what happened in Oct 2017,” they added.
Casa de Shenandoah sits on 40 acres and features exotic animals and Arabian horses. It had been in the Newton family for decades before they sold it in 2010 to a company that opened it to the public as a tourist attraction. The Associated Press reports the Newtons moved to another home in 2013.
The lawsuit contains allegations only, and no court has ruled on the claims.
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