'Stuck' Singer Stacie Orrico Files Childhood Sexual Abuse Lawsuit Against Her Former Manager Alleging 'Profound Harm' By Rachel DeSantis

Singer Stacie Orrico has filed suit against her former manager, claiming he sexually abused her over the course of a years-long, nonconsensual relationship from which her record label failed to protect her.

Orrico, who had a string of hits in the early 2000s, including “(There’s Gotta Be) More to Life,” filed suit in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Jan. 6 against Britt Ham, who served as her manager early in her career, Universal Music Group, ForeFront Records and more, claiming negligence, sexual battery, childhood sexual abuse and gender violence.

“The music industry failed to protect me when I was a little girl. It has taken me years to become strong enough — but I am ready to fight for every young and innocent person who has been, and continues to be, abused in the music industry and in the Church,” Orrico said in a statement shared with PEOPLE.

The suit alleges that Ham abused her repeatedly over a number of years, and that defendants knew of the abuse, but instead chose to prioritize reputational and financial interests over her safety.

“Plaintiff Stacie Joy Orrico was an innocent and joyful child, full of dreams, one of which was to become a singer. That dream — and her childhood, adolescence and entire life — were permanently threatened and profoundly altered by the trauma she endured as a result of sexual abuse and exploitation while she was a minor child and a professional musical artist under Defendants’ control, supervision, and authority,” the filing, which was obtained by PEOPLE, reads.

The complaint says that Orrico, 39, is filing the suit now after years of therapy and personal struggle because she is seeking accountability for the “abuse, exploitation and profound harm she suffered.”

Ham could not be reached for comment by PEOPLE. A spokesperson for Universal Music Group did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

Orrico was 12 years old when she won a Christian music festival competition in 1998 and caught the attention of judge Ham, who worked for Rocketown Management LLC. She signed a contract with ForeFront a year later and Ham became her manager, with the label assuring her and her family that being a “wholesome” Christian child artist was “integral” to her image.

Her debut album Genuine came out in 2000 — and later that year, Ham allegedly sexually assaulted her for the first time in his hotel room during a business trip to Los Angeles. She was 14 years old.

“[He] kissed her and instructed her to lie on his bed next to him. Ham continued to kiss her and touched her over her clothes and between her legs. Following these acts, Ham gave Plaintiff conflicting explanations,” the filing claims. “He would instruct her that the acts were not a sin because he loved her. He would blame her then absolve her for his inability to resist engaging in sex acts with her.”

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The filing says Orrico was “confused” and “ashamed” by the alleged assault, but continued growing closer to Ham. In 2001, when she was 15, the complaint claims he assaulted her a second and third time during subsequent business trips to L.A., allegedly “digitally penetrating Plaintiff’s genitals and rubbing his erect penis against Plaintiff’s body until he ejaculated.”

Ham’s behavior was allegedly witnessed by others, including one person who warned Orrico’s father that she and Ham were touching “too much” at a pool. Another person was hired to be Orrico’s companion, but was allegedly fired after she “raised concerns” to the record label about the singer’s “possibly harmful” relationship with Ham.

Orrico alleges that defendants “failed to take proactive steps” to protect her from Ham, who allegedly had penetrative sex with her in 2003 when she was 17.

The filing says that Orrico ended her relationship with Ham in March 2004, when she turned 18. As a result of their time together, she suffered anxiety, depression, panic attacks and more, and her music career came to an “abrupt end” around 2007, when she left ForeFront and Virgin Records.

“Stacie’s case is a chilling account of a child whose love for God and whose extraordinary talent drew the attention of an industry that saw profit, not protection,” Mo Hamoudi, one of her attorneys, told PEOPLE in a statement. “Instead of safeguarding her, they allowed her to be abused while others made money, leaving her exposed to the darkest corners of their own system.”

Orrico’s last album came out in 2006. She is now a married mother of two, and credits her husband as someone “who taught me to live as the courageous woman I really am” in a profile on her website The Nile Project.

Still, the filing says she continues to suffer from embarrassment, loss of self-esteem, loss of enjoyment of life and more. She is seeking unspecified damages and a trial by jury.

Her most famous hit, “(There’s Gotta Be) More to Life,” hit No. 30 on the Billboard Hot 100. Her song “Stuck” also cracked the chart, and appeared on the soundtrack of the 2004 Disney Channel movie Stuck in the Suburbs. In 2004, she was nominated for Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album at the Grammy Awards.

If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.