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Arnie faces sex abuse scandal

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  • Arnie faces sex abuse scandal

    Arnie faces sex abuse scandal

    Arnold Schwarzenegger is facing fresh allegations that he sexually harassed women over a 25-year period, five days before California's recall election.
    Six women accuse the Republican candidate of groping them between 1975 and 2000, in an article in Thursday's Los Angeles Times.

    Three of the women claim the former bodybuilder grabbed their breasts. Another says he placed his hand under her skirt and on her buttocks.

    Schwarzenegger campaign spokesman Sean Walsh denied the allegations.

    He accused "Democrats and others" of trying to sabotage Mr Schwarzenegger's campaign.

    He told the newspaper that the candidate himself would not comment on the allegations.

    Lead

    The actor turned politician has sprung into the lead in the latest opinion polls and received crucial backing from Republican Party members.

    Experts say it is now a two-horse race between Mr Schwarzenegger and incumbent Democrat Governor Gray Davis.

    The Los Angeles Times opposes the recall of Mr Davis, and has accused Mr Schwarzenegger of failing to deal seriously with issues affecting the state.

    It also said in a 28 September editorial that he "seemed to have only a casual acquaintance with the truth as practised outside Hollywood".

    The newspaper says it confirmed that the women had told their stories to other people before Mr Schwarzenegger began his race for governor.

    A fifth woman says Mr Schwarzenegger tried to take off her bathing suit in a hotel elevator, while the last says he pulled her onto his lap and asked her about a particular sex act.

    Four of the six women asked to remain anonymous.

    Groping allegations

    The other two are E Laine Stockton, the former wife of bodybuilder Robby Robinson, and the British television presenter Anna Richardson.

    Both said Mr Schwarzenegger had squeezed their breasts.

    Three of the women said they work in Hollywood and fear retaliation if they make their accusations publicly.

    Several said Mr Schwarzenegger's star power had made it impossible to do anything about his alleged behaviour.

    "What could you do? He was the highest-paid actor in the world. I was a peon. All you could do was stay away from him," said the woman who claims he tried to remove her bathing suit.

    She said it happened "at least three times, if not more" when she was working on the crew of his film Terminator 2 in 1990.

    The Los Angeles Times said that many people interviewed for the article said the tone on movie sets tends to be rowdy.

    Several people described Mr Schwarzenegger's sense of humour and language as "outrageous, but not mean-spirited".

    One stuntwoman who worked with him on a number of films defended him.

    "He's fun, extremely intelligent and very professional. I like him as a human being and think he's a decent guy," stuntwoman Simone Boisseree told the newspaper.

    On Tuesday Mr Schwarzenegger received a boost for his campaign after the Republican party decided to formally endorse his candidacy.

    In a unanimous vote the directors of the California Republican party took the unprecedented step of lining up behind one candidate, rather than supporting all Republicans standing in the recall election.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3159122.stm
    "Every man has his weakness. Mine was always just cigarettes."
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