Justin Bieber may have the baby face of a cherubic teenager, but it seems his list of rockstar credentials just got longer. Disney starlet girlfriend - check (Selena Gomez). Duets with his pals Usher and Mariah Carey - check. Now, perhaps bizarrely for one whose image is built on such a wholesome, youthful style - he's become the subject of a paternity suit by a fan.
A 20-year-old American fan has alleged that the teen sensation is the father of her three-month-old child, according to Radaronline.com, after her affections for her idol went further than a kiss at the stage door of LA Staples Centre in October of last year.
In court papers reportedly obtained by Star Magazine, Mariah Yeater goes into intimate detail of how she went from autograph-hunting to pram-pushing in the blink of an eye.
In the same papers, she also demands that Bieber take a paternity test and, if proved the daddy, provide "adequate support for my baby".
Even more mind-boggling is the fact that, according to Californian law, because Bieber was 16 when the alleged encounter occurred, Yeater would be guilty of statutory rape of a minor.
Bieber's camp have come out in indignant rejection of all these claims, calling them "malicious, defamatory and demonstrably false", according to TMZ.
Whether or not he's become a father to boot, it's been a phenomenal three years for the pint-sized music maestro. In 2008, he was spotted on YouTube and promptly brought under the wing of uber-singer-producer Usher. His first album My World 2.0 is certified platinum and his video for his song Baby remains one of YouTube's most watched. He is greeted by Bieber Fever wherever he goes in the world, and earned even a dose of critical kudos with an Artist of the Year gong at the American Music Awards 2010.
Since the beginning of the year, he's been dating Disney starlet and singer Selena Gomez, due to present the MTV EMA awards in Belfast this weekend. Bieber is up for awards at the same ceremony, so be prepared for all sorts of silent but deafening statements in body language.
Bieber is also a committed Christian, who spoke in an interview earlier this year about the prospect of pre-marital sex. Stopping short of donning a celibacy ring popular in young American pop stars, he told Rolling Stone magazine: "I don't think you should have sex with anyone unless you love them."
Prepare for this one to run and run, and in the meantime, click through our Slideshow and indulge in some innocent Bieber-worship...