Woman Accuses George H.W. Bush of Groping Her When She Was 16

Former president George H.W. Bush is facing another sexual assault allegation after a woman claimed that Bush groped her when she was 16 years old, TIME reports.

Roslyn Corrigan shared that she was excited to meet Bush, as she had dreamt of going into politics. Upon their encounter at a November 2003 event in The Woodlands, Texas, office of the Central Intelligence Agency, however, she was stunned when Bush grabbed her behind.

"My initial reaction was absolute horror. I was really, really confused," Corrigan said. "The first thing I did was look at my mom and, while he was still standing there, I didn't say anything. What does a teenager say to the ex-president of the United States? Like, 'Hey dude, you shouldn't have touched me like that?'"

Corrigan's father and other intelligence officers and family members had gathered at the event to meet the former POTUS, and Corrigan says it was when they posed for a photo together that the assault occurred.

"As soon as the picture was being snapped on the one-two-three he dropped his hands from my waist down to my buttocks and gave it a nice, ripe squeeze, which would account for the fact that in the photograph my mouth is hanging wide open," she said. "I was like, 'Oh my goodness, what just happened?'"

Corrigan is the sixth woman in recent weeks to accuse Bush of similar actions. Seven people, including family and friends, confirmed that they had learned of Bush's alleged groping of Corrigan before the other allegations.

More: Third Woman Claims George HW Bush Groped Her, Used 'David Cop-a-Feel' Joke

Corrigan said that while some responses to her story over the years have been dismissive, she was inspired to speak out after other women did so.

"I don't know, maybe it never really hit people that I was a child at the time and that goes beyond a guy being inappropriate in the workplace to a peer or somebody in his age range," she said. "I was a child."

"George Bush simply does not have it in his heart to knowingly cause anyone harm or distress, and he again apologizes to anyone he may have offended during a photo op," Bush spokesperson Jim McGrath said in a statement to TIME. McGrath previously said that Bush "has patted women's rears in what he intended to be a good-natured manner." McGrath also attributed Bush's behavior to his being confined to a wheelchair since 2012, although he was standing upright when he met Corrigan.

Corrigan's mother, Sari, said her daughter told her about the incident as soon as it happened.

"When he left, my daughter Rozi said, 'He grabbed me on the rear end.' And I said, 'What, what?'" Sari said. "And she said, 'Yes, he grabbed me when they were taking the picture. He grabbed me on my butt.' And I was like, 'Oh my god, are you kidding me?'"

"I was really, really upset — she was very upset, she was really, really mad," she continued, noting that she would have tried to do something "had it been just some Joe Blow or something. I'd probably chase him down and yell at him."

"But, you know, it's the president. What are you supposed to do?" she said in an Oct. 28 interview. "And you've got your husband's job that could be in jeopardy. I mean, you just didn't then. You should—you should have always spoken up, always—but we didn't."

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