Chikan On The Verge Of Being Elected Governor Of Largest U.S. State!

Women Claim Schwarzenegger Groped Them
By JIM WASSERMAN, AP

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Oct. 2) -- As Arnold Schwarzenegger prepared to capitalize on his lead in polls with a state bus tour, fresh allegations surfaced that he sexually harassed women in the past.

Schwarzenegger's camp denied the allegations.

Six women accused the Republican actor in interviews with the Los Angeles Times of groping them on movie sets and in other settings over the last three decades, the newspaper reported in Thursday editions.

Schwarzenegger spokesman Sean Walsh denied the allegations in comments to the Times, saying the actor had not engaged in improper conduct toward women. Walsh said the claims were a political attack in the days leading up to the Oct. 7 recall election.

Walsh said Schwarzenegger would not comment on the sexual misconduct allegations in the Times. Contacted late Wednesday by The Associated Press, Schwarzenegger spokesman Todd Harris said: ''We stand by our comments which were published in the story.'' He declined further comment.

The Times said it interviewed the women over the last seven weeks during an investigation into whether Schwarzenegger harassed women. The Times said none of the women approached the newspaper on her own, none was identified by Schwarzenegger's rivals in the recall race, and none had filed legal action against the actor.

Two of the women allowed their names to be used; four spoke on condition of anonymity.

E. Laine Stockton told the Times she was groped by Schwarzenegger in 1975 at Gold's Gym in Venice. Stockton claimed the bodybuilder came up from behind her, reached under her T-shirt to grab her breast and then walked away. She was 19 at the time.

''I was just shocked, shocked to the point where I almost didn't know how to react, because it was so out of the blue and so unexpected,'' she told the newspaper.

Anna Richardson, a British television host, said Schwarzenegger touched her breast when she was interviewing him in 2000 on a promotional tour for ''The Sixth Day.'' Richardson, who previously told Premiere magazine about the alleged incident, was accused by a Hollywood publicist then working with Schwarzenegger of fabricating the story.

Others interviewed included two crew members working in 1990 on ''Terminator 2: Judgment Day.'' One woman, now 41, said Schwarzenegger groped her at least three times in an elevator at the hotel where the cast and crew were staying.

The other woman, now in her 30s, said Schwarzenegger pulled her into his lap and whispered vulgarities while other men watched.

Three of the women who spoke on condition of anonymity said being named could jeopardize their careers; the fourth feared public ridicule or harm to her husband's business.

Schwarzenegger's alleged past indiscretions have been an issue in the campaign since he announced his bid for governor. Much of the controversy has surrounded a 1977 interview in Oui magazine in which Schwarzenegger talked about engaging in group sex. The actor has said he doesn't remember it.

On Tuesday, a new Los Angeles Times poll showed Schwarzenegger had support from 40 percent of likely voters in the recall election. Democrat Lt. Gov. Bustamante had 32 percent, and Republican state Sen. Tom McClintock had 15 percent.

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