World

Woman who accused RFK Jr of sexual assault says he apologized by text

2024.07.12 13:23

By Stephanie Kelly

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr has apologized to a former family babysitter who accused him of sexual assault, the woman told Reuters on Friday.

The woman, Eliza Cooney, told Vanity Fair in an article earlier this month that Kennedy groped her in the family kitchen when she was employed as a part-time babysitter in the late 1990s by Kennedy and his then-wife Mary Richardson.

Cooney, who was 23 at the time, confirmed the incident to Reuters. The Washington Post reported first about the apology on Friday.

“I read your description of an episode in which I touched you in an unwanted manner,” Kennedy said in a text message sent to Cooney that was seen by Reuters. Reuters verified it was Kennedy’s cellphone number using TLOxp, a service that provides public and proprietary data.

“I have no memory of this incident,” the text continues, “but I apologize sincerely for anything I ever did that made you feel uncomfortable or anything I did or said that offended you or hurt your feelings.”

“If I hurt you, it was inadvertent. I feel badly for doing so.”

Kennedy added he would prefer to tell Cooney this by phone and “preferably” face-to-face.

Kennedy’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment. “The text message speaks for itself,” he told The Post.

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attends a campaign rally at the Fox Theatre in Tucson, Arizona, U.S. February 5, 2024. REUTERS/Rebecca Noble/File Photo

When asked to comment previously on the sexual assault allegation, Kennedy said: “I had a very, very rambunctious youth.”

“I said in my announcement speech that I have so many skeletons in my closet that if they could all vote, I could run for king of the world,” he added.



Source link

Related Articles

Back to top button
bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) $ 95,939.70 0.67%
ethereum
Ethereum (ETH) $ 2,626.66 0.45%
tether
Tether (USDT) $ 1.00 0.01%
xrp
XRP (XRP) $ 2.39 1.29%
solana
Solana (SOL) $ 198.99 0.70%
bnb
BNB (BNB) $ 617.08 1.17%
usd-coin
USDC (USDC) $ 1.00 0.00%
dogecoin
Dogecoin (DOGE) $ 0.249574 1.35%
staked-ether
Lido Staked Ether (STETH) $ 2,625.29 0.21%
cardano
Cardano (ADA) $ 0.683601 2.27%
tron
TRON (TRX) $ 0.235622 1.93%
wrapped-bitcoin
Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) $ 95,897.69 0.48%
chainlink
Chainlink (LINK) $ 18.47 0.61%
wrapped-steth
Wrapped stETH (WSTETH) $ 3,144.18 0.10%
avalanche-2
Avalanche (AVAX) $ 24.72 0.44%
stellar
Stellar (XLM) $ 0.31486 5.11%
the-open-network
Toncoin (TON) $ 3.81 1.84%
sui
Sui (SUI) $ 3.01 1.29%
shiba-inu
Shiba Inu (SHIB) $ 0.000016 1.49%
leo-token
LEO Token (LEO) $ 9.91 0.93%
hedera-hashgraph
Hedera (HBAR) $ 0.229984 1.59%
usds
USDS (USDS) $ 1.00 0.08%
litecoin
Litecoin (LTC) $ 106.53 2.01%
bitget-token
Bitget Token (BGB) $ 6.34 1.42%
hyperliquid
Hyperliquid (HYPE) $ 22.75 3.89%
weth
WETH (WETH) $ 2,631.19 0.23%
polkadot
Polkadot (DOT) $ 4.74 1.78%
bitcoin-cash
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $ 323.77 0.23%
ethena-usde
Ethena USDe (USDE) $ 1.00 0.06%
mantra-dao
MANTRA (OM) $ 5.80 0.72%
uniswap
Uniswap (UNI) $ 9.11 0.20%
wrapped-eeth
Wrapped eETH (WEETH) $ 2,780.91 0.31%
ondo-finance
Ondo (ONDO) $ 1.31 2.40%
monero
Monero (XMR) $ 220.93 1.53%
pepe
Pepe (PEPE) $ 0.000009 3.27%
whitebit
WhiteBIT Coin (WBT) $ 27.20 0.15%
near
NEAR Protocol (NEAR) $ 3.20 1.14%
aave
Aave (AAVE) $ 241.21 0.50%
dai
Dai (DAI) $ 1.00 0.02%
mantle
Mantle (MNT) $ 1.01 3.33%
aptos
Aptos (APT) $ 5.85 0.40%
internet-computer
Internet Computer (ICP) $ 6.88 1.64%
official-trump
Official Trump (TRUMP) $ 16.33 5.69%
susds
sUSDS (SUSDS) $ 1.04 0.01%
ethereum-classic
Ethereum Classic (ETC) $ 20.10 0.32%
bittensor
Bittensor (TAO) $ 359.07 4.24%
okb
OKB (OKB) $ 47.28 0.30%
gatechain-token
Gate (GT) $ 21.06 0.85%
vechain
VeChain (VET) $ 0.032216 2.06%
polygon-ecosystem-token
POL (ex-MATIC) (POL) $ 0.304142 1.11%