A young actor who accused actress Asia Argento of having sex with him when he was underage said his trauma resurfaced last year when the Italian actress accused producer Harvey Weinstein of rape.
In a statement issued Wednesday, actor Jimmy Bennett, 22, said that until now he was afraid and ashamed to speak about an incident he said happened in 2013.
“I did not initially speak out about my story because I chose to handle it in private with the person who wronged me. My trauma resurfaced as she came out as a victim herself,” he said in the statement. “I have not made a public statement in the past days and hours because I was ashamed and afraid to be part of the public narrative.”
On Sunday, the New York Times reported that Bennett was paid a $380,000 settlement after he accused Argento of sexually assaulting him in a Marina del Rey hotel room when he was 17. In California, the age of consent is 18, and Argento is now the subject of a criminal inquiry.
Read the full story on LATimes.com.