Woman says George H.W. Bush groped her when she was 16 years old - report
A sixth woman has stepped forward with accusations of assault carried out by former President George H.W. Bush, according to a new report by TIME.
TIME writes that Rosyln Corrigan was 16-years-old when she met with the former president at a November 2003 event for the office of the Central Intelligence Agency in Texas where Corrigan's father had worked. Corrigan claims that Bush, then 79-years-old, had groped her buttocks while the two posed for a photo with Corrigan's mother.
"My initial action was absolute horror. I was really, really confused," Corrigan told TIME. "The first thing I did was look at my mom and, while he was still standing there, I didn't say anything. What does a teenager say to the ex-president of the United States? Like, 'Hey dude, you shouldn't have touched me like that?'"
Several other women have made similar claims against Bush in recent weeks, all alleging that Bush had grabbed their buttocks without the women's consent during a meet-and-greet.
"As soon as the picture was being snapped on the one-two-three he dropped his hands from my waist down to my buttocks and gave it a nice, ripe squeeze, which would account for the fact that in the photograph my mouth is hanging wide open," Corrigan said. "I was like, 'Oh my goodness, what just happened?'"
Following a similar claim made by Christina Baker Kline, who wrote about her experience with the president in an essay in Slate, Bush spokesman, Jim McGrath, released a statement in light of the ongoing claims.
"At age 93, President Bush has been confined to a wheelchair for roughly five years, so his arm falls on the lower waist of people with whom he takes pictures. To try to put people at ease, the president routinely tells the same joke — and on occasion, he has patted women's rears in what he intended to be a good-natured manner. Some have seen it as innocent; others clearly view it as inappropriate. To anyone he has offended, President Bush apologizes most sincerely."
McGrath provided a similar statement to TIME in response to Corrigan's case, saying "George Bush simply does not have it in his heart to knowingly cause anyone harm or distress, and he again apologizes to anyone he may have offended during a photo op."
TIME noted, however, that President Bush was standing upright in 2003 when he met Corrigan.