[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
These are incredibly disturbing allegations.
Raquel Lee, a former child actress, is suing Disney with claims she was “repeatedly raped, sexually assaulted, sexually abused and sexually harassed” by an employee of the company during her time working on the 2001 film, The Poof Point.
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The now 39-year-old mother and wife was 14 at the time of the alleged assaults. In her lawsuit against the company, she claims a middle-aged, male employee repeatedly abused and harassed her on and off set:
“John Doe (Mr. Doe), an on-set, adult, middle-aged, male employee of Disney who was involved in the filming of the movie. Mr. Doe’s sexual abuse of Ms. Boileau was apparent to the adults on Disney’s set. Defendant Disney repeatedly failed Ms. Boileau. Disney facilitated and concealed Mr. Doe’s severe sexual abuse of Ms. Boileau.”
Alleging the set was unsafe for children, and that other employees ignored what was going on, the suit further claims:
“Disney has caused irreparable and devastating harm, and must be held accountable. Defendant failed to use reasonable care in investigating the circumstances on set and did nothing to reasonably investigate, supervise or monitor and/or terminate Mr. Doe to ensure the safety of child actors.”
The accusations are harrowing.
Not only does the suit claim she was encouraged to “bond” with this adult employee as a child, it alleges that once she started showing signs of distress on set, such as changed behavior, showing up sick from alcohol, etc., rather than being cared for, she was shamed and blamed. Disney executives are accused of calling her “out of control,” “needing Jesus,” and even going so far as telling her mother she had “a demon inside her.” Awful. Just awful.
Raquel is seeking an unspecified amount of damages due to Disney’s alleged negligence to properly supervise their employees.
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence and would like to learn more about resources, consider checking out https://www.rainn.org/resources.
[Image via Raquel Lee/Instagram.]
