Sarah Monahan In 'Abuse' Claims

Friday 19th March 2010 - 15:00:00

Sarah Monahan has shocked fans in her native Australia by alleging she was sexually abused on the set of 1980s sitcom Hey Dad!
 
The 32 year old shot to fame when she was nine years old playing school girl Jenny Kelly on the show, which ran Down Under from  1987 to 1994.
 
Monahan has now opened up about her time on the series, alleging she was molested by an unnamed man but was too scared to speak up in case she lost her job.
 
She tells Australia's Woman's Day magazine, "This person used to sit me on his lap or tickle me, but then he started putting his arm around me and trying to do this reach-around and grabbing me, but at the same time trying to feel me up. He was always there flashing me or trying to cop a feel.
 
"I quickly learned never to be alone in private with him, especially when he started flashing me."
 
Monahan has not named the man, or stated whether he was a worker on the show.
 
The actress' former co-star Julie McGregor has spoken to an Australian TV network about the revelations and admits she's shocked by Monahan's claims.
 
She tells Nine Network, "I had heard something but I had no idea the extent of the monstering... and I feel sorry for her that there was no one that she could feel she could turn to. I think whoever this person was was very clever. They knew how to operate."
 
Monahan now runs a TV production company in the U.S. with her husband.