FBI 'looking into' Ryan Adams' interaction with underage fan

Following allegations of sexual abuse against singer-songwriter Ryan Adams, the F.B.I is "looking into" whether his sexually explicit communications with an underage fan amounted to criminal behaviour.

The revelation comes from a law enforcement official cited by The New York Times, reported Variety.

The fan, identified only as 'Ava', was between the ages of 14 and 16 when the interactions, which included nudity, took place.

She is one of several women accusing the singer of sexually inappropriate behaviour in an article in the Times, published Wednesday.

However, Adams, through his lawyer, Andrew B. Brettler, denied that he "ever engaged in inappropriate online sexual communications with someone he knew was underage."

On Thursday, Brettler told the Times that he had not been contacted by law enforcement.

According to The Times, the F.B.I agents in the bureau's New York office, in response to its article, have begun to open a criminal investigation. The Times citied an official who declined to be identified.

Agents from the Crimes Against Children Squad will seek to interview the woman and attempt to obtain the text messages and any other evidence, they said.

According to Variety, federal law bars the sexual exploitation of children under 18, defining a violator as anyone who "persuades, induces, entices or coerces any minor to engage in" a visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct.