Woody Allen accused of sex abuse by adopted daughter

The adopted daughter of Woody Allen has renewed claims the filmmaker “sexually abused” her as a child in 1992.

In an open letter, Dylan Farrow accuses Allen of molesting her in a “dim, closet-like attic” at the age of seven.

Ms Farrow, now 28, also criticises Hollywood’s continued celebration of “a predator [who] brought chaos into our home”.

Allen was investigated over the abuse allegations at the time of the incident, but was not charged.

A panel of psychologists, appointed by US prosecutors and the police, concluded that Dylan had not been molested.

The case caused controversy when a prosecutor later said there had been “probably cause” to charge Allen, but he had chosen not to, in order to protect the child.

The movie director has always maintained his innocence. He has previously accused Dylan’s mother, Mia Farrow, of fabricating the claims after their highly publicised break-up in 1992.

Dylan Farrow opens her letter, published on the New York Times website, by asking: “What’s your favourite Woody Allen movie? Before you answer, you should know: when I was seven years old, Woody Allen took me by the hand and led me into a dim, closet-like attic on the second floor of our house.

“He told me to lay on my stomach and play with my brother’s electric train set. Then he sexually abused me”.

Ms Farrow, who now lives in Florida under a different name, said she developed an eating disorder and was self-harming following the incident.

“That he got away with what he did to me haunted me as I grew up,” she writes.

Of the panel who dismissed her claims back in 1992, Ms Farrow says: “Sexual abuse claims against the powerful stall more easily. There were experts willing to attack my credibility.”

She said she decided to break her silence after two decades, when Woody Allen’s latest film, Blue Jasmine, was nominated for an Oscar last week.

Source-BBC