In a recent interview with Megyn Kelly, Nicole Eggert detailed her accusations against Scott Baio. She accuses him of having sexually abused her "once a week" while she was 14 until she was 17 while the two of them were filming Charles in Charge.
Scott Baio, who is more than a decade older, has repeatedly denied her account, at one point claiming that they had sex once when she was 18, at another point insisting that he’d never seen her off of the set.
Now, Nicole Eggert is taking things a step forward by reporting her accusations to police.
In a statement to Daily News, Nicole Eggert’s lawyer, Lisa Bloom, reveals that her client has spoken with the LAPD and shared her accusations of seuxal abuse and molestation towards Scott Baio.
"Nicole answered all of their questions and told her story of sexual abuse by Scott Baio when she was a minor."
The alleged molestation began when she was 14. Scott Baio is 11 years older than she is.
"We appreciate the Los Angeles police detectives’ interest in this case, and we will fully cooperate with their investigation."
California’s laws regarding statutes of limitations with respect to child molestation are complicated and have changed multiple times over the decades, but speaking to the police now is not as fruitless as some may assume.
Lisa Bloom’ statement continues:
"Many have reached out to Nicole and me to say that they witnessed inappropriate behavior from Scott Baio when Nicole was underage."
TMZ notes that Alexander Polinsky confirmed to police that he witnessed some of the alleged sexual abuse.
Polinsky played Adam Powell on Charles in Charge. According to Nicole Eggert’s accusations, Scott Baio was often touching or groping her on set or pulling her into his lap.
"We provided those names to the police today."
Having witnesses can be very helpful when someone intends to prove their case.
In case you need a grim refresher, Nicole Eggert describes the first incident with Scott Baio as having taken place in his garage when she was 14.
He would have been 25 at the time.
She says that he digitally penetrated her at the time, which was the start of the alleged sexual abuse that she says happened about once a week until she was 17.
Nicole says that it was when she was 17 that Scott Baio had penetrative sex with her, at which point their inappropriate (and illegal) relationship ended.
On top of the statutory rape allegation, Nicole admits that she was awestruck but also notes that Scott Baio was effectively her boss and allegedly cautioned her that, if anyone found out what they were doing, everyone on the show would lose their jobs.
"I remember her calling me and asking me to come over and coming in my house one time, and seducing me."
“Any normal heterosexual, red-blooded American guy, the outcome would have been the same."
Interesting, Scott Baio went on Good Morning America and claimed that he never even saw Nicole off of the set.
That appears to be an interesting shift in his story.
Also interesting is that Scott Baio has accused Nicole Eggert of changing her story, citing an old interview during which Nicole did not share any upsetting details or suggest that anything untoward had happened with Baio until she was 18.
It’s worth noting that the man who interviewed her at that time confirmed to Megyn Kelly that Nicole became visibly upset after the interview; she had shared with him, off of the air, that she had not described
Nicole says that, at that time, she simply wasn’t ready to come forward. That is common for survivors of sexual abuse.
So, remember how we said that statute of limitations laws are super complex in California?
When last we checked, their legislature is still debating the right way to go about them when it comes to childhood sexual abuse. It’s an important topic, particularly in a state that houses more than 12% of the US population. That’s a lot of kids, folks.
So, though the law has changed over the years, Nicole Eggert’s specific accusations can potentially go to a criminal trial.
Even though California has a 10 year statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse, the crime can be prosecuted within one year of a survivor telling police, even after the 10 year period.
In case anyone wonders why this might be, it’s because it’s almost unheard of for someone to endure sexual abuse — which most often takes place at the hands of a family member, caretaker, or trusted family friend — until they turn 18, and them promptly march into a police station and report what happened.
Childhood sexual abuse is damaging, and a combination of shame and survival instincts often makes the people who survive it unwilling to talk about it until many years later — if then.
One year is not a long time to build a case, so we’ll see how this pans out for the LAPD investigators.
