Lucy Hale feels "lucky" to have been "unscathed" by her experiences with sexual assault.
The 29-year-old actress claimed in now-deleted posts on social media earlier this year that she’d had her "dignity and pride" taken from her by an experience with sexual harassment, and has now revealed that she was "intoxicated and taken advantage of" when the alleged incident took place.
Speaking about her experience with assault, she said: "I’ve experienced stuff on the small side, but assault is assault. I think there are a lot of people who have been intoxicated and taken advantage of. It’s happened to me and people I know. It’s very common. Luckily, I’ve been unscathed; nothing’s hurt me too badly."
The ‘Pretty Little Liars’ star seemingly hinted that the alleged assault took place in Los Angeles – where she also had her home burglarised in January this year – as she noted that the city has been home to "super-dark times" for her, but she’ll always consider it a safe place.
She added to Haute Living Los Angeles magazine: "[I’ve] had super-dark times [in LA, but] it’s been a place that’s always had my back.
"I know it sounds weird, but I’ve always been at ease here. For me, this is it. I think I’ll always live here. I feel like I can be myself here."
Her comments come after she took to Twitter and Instagram earlier this year to reveal she had been left "lost for words" after experiencing sexual assault.
In posts uploaded in January which were later deleted by the ‘Life Sentence’ actress, she wrote: "I never understood sexual assault until tonight. I always sympathised, but I never felt the pain of it until right now. My dignity and pride was broken. I am completely at a loss of words."
Lucy Hale ‘lucky’ to be ‘unscathed’ by sexual assault
