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Home / Entertainment

Oscar winner Timothy Hutton denies teen sex assault claims

NZ Herald
3 Mar, 2020 07:09 PM3 mins to read

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Timothy Hutton has denied claims he sexually assaulted a model in 1983. Photo / Getty Images.

Timothy Hutton has denied claims he sexually assaulted a model in 1983. Photo / Getty Images.

Oscar winner Timothy Hutton is facing accusations that he sexually assaulted a former teen model when she was 14, while a friend of his watched.

Sera Johnston made the claim while speaking to Buzzfeed News, saying she was sexually assaulted by the actor in Vancouver in 1983. Hutton, who was about 24 at the time of the alleged attack, vehemently denies the allegations.

The Sun reports that Johnston claims the attack occurred after she and two friends were invited to Hutton's hotel room, while he was in Canada shooting the film Iceman.

Timothy Hutton's TV series Almost Family has been axed in the wake of the allegations. Photo / Getty Images.
Timothy Hutton's TV series Almost Family has been axed in the wake of the allegations. Photo / Getty Images.

"It was like we were entertaining them – cute," Johnston told BuzzFeed News.

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"We were funny, you know what I mean."

Johnston, now 50, went on to detail how Hutton "was getting very close to me, you know, really kind of sidling up to me, and petting my legs and stuff".

Timothy Hutton has been accused of sexual assault. Photo / Getty Images.
Timothy Hutton has been accused of sexual assault. Photo / Getty Images.

"I was just, like: I think this is going to be bad. I was really wrong about this."

Johnston says she protested, telling Hutton: "I don't think this is a good idea" and "I don't think my mother would be too happy about this".

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"To everything I would say, it was, 'It'll be OK, it'll be OK. It won't last long and you'll be fine'."

Timothy Hutton holds his Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in Ordinary People. Photo / Getty Images.
Timothy Hutton holds his Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in Ordinary People. Photo / Getty Images.

She claims the attack progressed as Hutton began kissing her neck and undressing her against her will.

Hutton allegedly told Johnston that she would like it and that his friend would watch.

"It hurt like hell.

"I mean, it was very painful. God. Yeah, it was extremely painful.

"Horrible, horrible, absolutely horrible."

The actor's most recent TV series has been cancelled in the wake of the allegations. Photo / Getty Images.
The actor's most recent TV series has been cancelled in the wake of the allegations. Photo / Getty Images.

Johnston told Buzzfeed that the MeToo movement had given her the confidence to finally speak up about the alleged attack.

Hutton - who this week learned that his TV show Almost Family has been cancelled after just one season - denies the attack happened and in a statement to Deadline claims he has been the "target of multiple extortion attempts" by Johnston.

"She threatened that if I did not meet her demands, she would go to the press with a false allegation that I sexually assaulted her 37 years ago in Canada."

Hutton, 59, took aim at Buzzfeed for running the "false story" adding the news site "knew the truth because they were provided with documented evidence".

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He added: "I will not stop fighting to expose this story for what it is – a failed extortion attempt based on something that never happened."

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