Woody Allen has rejected molestation claims raised by Dylan Farrow in her open letter to the New York Times. Allen’s publicist Leslee Dart said in an email that Allen had read Dylan Farrow’s letter published online, claiming that she had been sexually assaulted by Woody when she was only 7 years old. Woody Allen had married Dylan’s mother Mia Farrow when she was a child.
Allen dismissed Dylan’s claims as “untrue and disgraceful,” and said he would fight the claims renewed by Dylan that date back to Allen’s relationship with Mia Farrow.
Allen’s lawyer, Elkan Abramowitz also commented over the renewed allegations made by Dylan and commented, “It is tragic that after 20 years a story engineered by a vengeful lover resurfaces after it was fully vetted and rejected by independent authorities. The one to blame for Dylan’s distress is neither Dylan nor Woody Allen.”
In her letter, Dylan Farrow claimed that Allen had taken her to a “dim, closet-like attic” when she was 7-year-old, and “then he sexually assaulted me.” Farrow described Allen’s abusive behavior without specifying Allen’s actions.
Allen had been investigated on child molestation claims for the 1992 accusations, but the prosecutors had elected not to charge him. However, after the investigation was over, it faced hard criticism when Litchfield County state attorney Frank Maco said in a press conference that he believed that Allen had molested Farrow, but he had decided not to charge him to spare Dylan the trauma of a trial.
Maco said that he hopes Dylan Farrow “has access to that statement, to know what I did and why I did it. I hope she finds some peace and solace at this time.”
However, long before Maco’s press conference, a team of child abuse specialists from Yale-New Haven Hospital had examined the case and concluded there had been no child molestation.
Image Credit: LA Times