Sean Kingston Maintains His Innocence, But Settles Rape Lawsuit Anyway

Sean Kingston is apparently a fan of the "if money can fix it, it ain't a problem" theory -- because he waved a checkbook at the woman who filed a civil suit against him for rape, and POOF. Away it went.

Carissa Capeloto, 22, says Sean his posse gang-raped her when she went to his hotel room for a meet-and-greet in 2010. Police didn't find her story credible so criminal charges against the rapper were dropped, but she claims she's suffered insomnia, mood swings and panic attacks since the incident -- resulting in her $5 million civil suit.

Sean doesn't deny having sex with Carissa, but says it was consensual. Regardless, he's a busy guy and didn't want to deal with the messiness of a trial, so while he's still maintaining his innocence, he cut the young woman a check -- albeit one that sources tell TMZ was "only a fraction of what she asked for." In exchange, she's dropping the suit.

Still, though, he thinks he'd have won if the case had gone to trial. "Her story wasn't consistent. She told various stories throughout her interviews with police," sources close to Kingston told TMZ. "The medical report had no indications of force."