Scott Baio, the "Charles in Charles" star, claimed on Wednesday that allegations by former child actors on the 1980s sitcom are part of a "media witch hunt."
Baio's representative, Brian Glicklich, and his attorney Jennifer McGrath read a statement from Baio at a news conference, which the actor didn’t attend, defending himself against a new allegation by Alexander Polinsky, USA Today reported.
Polinsky, who appeared in the sitcom, charged earlier in the day that Baio sexually harassed him and assaulted him with a cup of hot tea on the show's set in the late 1980s, per USA Today, and he also backed up the month-old claim of another "Charles in Charge" child actor, Nicole Eggert, that she and Baio had sex when she was underage.
"For reasons I don't understand, I am the target of false claims that threaten everything that is important in my life," Baio, 57, said in the statement, per People magazine. "I am hurt and I am angry. But mostly, I am stunned that anyone could be so cruel as to attack not just me, but my entire family with lies.
"I will not let this continue unchallenged, and will use every ounce of strength and faith in God that I have to defeat the people behind this. This story is just beginning to be told," the statement continued.
Eggert, 46, alleged on Twitter last month that Baio molester her at 14 and the abuse continued "almost on a weekly basis for years," per People, and Baio has called her charges "lies."
Polinsky, 43, added his voice on Wednesday, claiming that Baio ruined his experience on the show, People reported.
"Scott Baio began a power of abuse that was unrelenting," Polinsky told reporters, per People. "Mr. Baio repeatedly told me about gay sex acts that he told me I would grow up to perform. I would protest and ask him to stop saying these things, but he said it was for my own good.”
"Scott told me of his sexual conquests with young girls and the costars of the show at the same time tried to convince me that I was unlovable, defective and branding me with the most vulgar words for homosexuals that exist."
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