My years of sex abuse, by Tatum O’Neal
ACTRESS Tatum O’Neal has said she was sexually assaulted multiple times as a child star.
Ms O’Neal, 54, who became the youngest person to win an Oscar aged 10 playing opposite her father Ryan O’Neal in the 1973 classic Paper Moon, said all the assaults were by older men. In an emotional letter posted on Instagram, the mother of three – who was once married to tennis star John McEnroe – said: ‘I am a woman and I have been sexually assaulted more than once. It was not my fault when I was 5, 6, 12, 13, 15 – all by older men who I thought were safe. I rarely have known safety… It’s taken me almost 55 years to know how to advocate for myself.’
In a recent interview, Ms O’Neal said both her mother, the late actress Joanna Moore, and her father were alcoholics, adding: ‘When your parents are off getting drunk or high, they are not watching what happens to their children..’ She said she was once assaulted by a friend of her father’s, and on another occasion her mother’s boyfriend tried to rape her.
In the emotional social media post, O’Neal also slammed Donald Trump for mocking Christine Blasey Ford, who says she was assaulted by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh in high school.