Who Is Mariah Carey's Sister? Estranged Allison Carey Suing Their Mom For Sexual Abuse
Mariah Carey's big sis is suing their mom for sex abuse.
Featureflash Photo Agency / Shutterstock Fans who remember Mariah Carey's first album might remember that she dedicated it to her sister, Allison Carey. Allison, who is eight years older than her superstar sister, has had a difficult life. Not only has Allison been in trouble with the law at times, she has been treated for HIV since the late 1980s. Now, the 58-year-old is straining her already strained family ties by filing a lawsuit against her mother, Patricia Carey.
In the lawsuit, Carey, who lives in Kingston, New York and claims to be three years sober, is making serious allegations — including accusations that Patricia forced her to watch adults having sex, encouraged her to participate in sex acts with strangers while she was a child, and even accuses her mother of participating in Satanic rituals. Allison Carey blames this alleged abuse for many of the problems she had later in life.
Who is Mariah Carey's sister, Allison Carey — and why is she suing their mom, Patricia Carey, for sex abuse?
Allison is the second of the Carey siblings.
Patricia and Alfred Carey had three children together and Allison is the middle. She was born in 1962 when her brother Morgan Carey was two years old. Baby sister Mariah finished out the threesome in 1970. The Carey parents divorced in 1973 when Allison was 11 years old and she chose to go live with her dad that that time. Morgan and Mariah stayed with their mother.
Mariah Carey with her mother Patricia.
Allison Carey claims her mother's sexual abuse took place when she was 10 years old.
If the allegations in her new lawsuit are accurate, Carey might have had a good reason for wanting to get away from her mother. In the papers filed in New York State courts this week, she claims that she was a victim of sexual and emotional abuse at the hands of her mother when she was only 10 years old. The lawsuit alleges that Patricia Carey forced her daughter to “witness adults engaged in sexual acts with both adults and children during middle-of-the-night satanic worship meetings that included ritual sacrifices.” Not only that, Patricia allegedly allowed strangers to engaged in sexual acts with Allison. All of this allegedly led to PTSD that has dogged Allison for the rest of her life and resulted in her issues with substance abuse as an adult.
Allison Carey's teen years were tumultuous.
In the years after the alleged abuse, which she has never discussed before now, Allison moved in with her father. By the time she was 15 years old, she had married her first husband Richard McDonald, and had a son named Shawn with him in 1977. She dropped out of high school to get married and have the baby so she had trouble finding a regular job in those years. She turned to prostitution to earn money and that may also be when she started using drugs, a problem that would continue for much of her life. She divorced, remarried, and divorced again in her 20s and had three more children. At times, her mother Patricia has had custody of her kids.
The years of living on the streets and using drugs took a toll on Allison and she discovered that she was HIV positive in 1989. Her work in the sex industry continued off and on until at least 2005, when she was busted for prostitution again.
Why are Allison Carey and Mariah Carey estranged?
Allison's rough life left a lasting impression on her younger sister. The pop superstar has told reporters that watching her sister struggle with drugs and the effects of being a sex worker led her to avoid substance abuse and promiscuity herself. She wanted to stay in control of her life and her career, though we have all been witness to her mental health issues over the years. That doesn't mean she didn't care about Allison; in 1990, Carey dedicated her album to her sister. Allison wasn't impressed by the gesture, saying it was just something Mariah did to look like a "good sister." They haven't been close or spoken in decades.
That doesn't mean Mariah hasn't helped Allison.
Despite the fact that the sisters don't hang out, to put it mildly, Mariah has made some attempts to help Allison out over the years. Allison acknowledges that her mega-rich baby sister paid for her to go to rehab more than once. Allison claims that the rehab payments are something Mariah holds over her. “Yes, she did [pay for rehab],” Alison said, “but she has never let me forget one single cent she has ever spent on me,” Allison told reporters.
Allison Carey was badly injured in 2015.
Both Allison and Morgan Carey have criticized their sister for neglecting Allison in the past few years. Allison was beaten during a home invasion in 2015 and the attack resulted in brain damage. She has had lasting effects from the incident and claims to need support from her sister now more than ever. Their brother Morgan has taken Allison's side in this family feud and he says Mariah has been selfish and doesn't care about her family in their time of need, even going so far as to call Mariah "evil" and "a witch."
None of the Carey family has commented on the lawsuit so far.
Rebekah Kuschmider has been writing about celebrities, pop culture, entertainment, and politics since 2010. She is the creator of the blog FeminXer and she is a cohost of the weekly podcast The More Perfect Union.