Life

Ex-POTUS George H.W. Bush Accused of Groping 16-Year-Old Girl in 2003

Roslyn Corrigan, the sixth woman to come forward with similar allegations against Bush, said her initial reaction was "absolute horror."

Bush
Image via Getty/Jason Hirschfeld

A sixth woman has accused former POTUS George H.W. Bush of groping her during a photo op. The woman, who was 16 years old at the time, said the alleged groping occurred during a meeting she attended at the Woodlands, Texas office of the CIA in 2003. Roslyn Corrigan gave her first public remarks on the alleged incident in an interview with Time Monday.

Bush, who was 79 at the time, allegedly "groped [Corrigan's buttocks]" while the two had their photograph taken. Corrigan said her initial reaction was "absolute horror" and confusion. "The first thing I did was look at my mom and, while he was still standing there, I didn't say anything," she said. "What does a teenager say to the ex-president of the United States? Like, 'Hey dude, you shouldn't have touched me like that?'" Bush gave "a nice, ripe squeeze" as the photo was being taken, Corrigan added.

Corrigan's account follows similar accounts from five other women, including Turn: Washington's Spies star Heather Lind. In a previous statement released following another groping allegation from theater actress Jordana Grolnick, Bush's spokesperson Jim McGrath admitted that Bush "on occasion, has patted women's rears" in what he characterized as "a good-natured manner," whatever the hell that means.

Grolnick said an alleged 2016 groping while backstage during a Maine theater production was preceded by the ex-POTUS asking the group gathered for a photo if they wanted to know who his favorite magician was. "Bush reached his right hand around to my behind, and as we smiled for the photo he asked the group, 'Do you want to know who my favorite magician is?'" Grolnick said. "As I felt his hand dig into my flesh, he said, 'David Cop-a-Feel!'"

In a new statement to Time Monday, McGrath claimed Bush "does not have it in his heart to knowingly cause anyone harm or distress." Though McGrath's original statement last month attempted to connect Bush's behavior to his wheelchair confinement, Bush was indeed standing when he snapped a photograph with Corrigan back in 2003.

Related Stories

Heather Lind
Pop Culture

Actress Heather Lind Says She Was Sexually Assaulted by Ex-President George H.W. Bush

Lind says the incident occurred during a private screening of the AMC series 'Turn: Washington's Spies' in 2014.

Trace William Cowen3241 days ago
George
Life

Another Actress Says Ex-President George H.W. Bush Groped Her

In a new statement, Bush's spokesperson said the ex-president "patted women's rears in what he intended to be a good-natured manner."

Trace William Cowen3240 days ago
George H. W. Bush
Life

There's Now a Third Woman Alleging George H.W. Bush Groped Her

Author Christina Baker Kline outlines a story very similar to the one told by the other two women who have alleged George H.W. Bush groped them.

juliarp3239 days ago

Stay ahead on Exclusives

Download the Complex App