Civil rights icon Cesar Chavez abused girls and women, according to explosive new allegations

The late Cesar Chavez, one of the nation’s most prominent civil rights leaders, has been accused of sexually abusing girls and women.

Civil rights icon Dolores Huerta said in a statement that Chavez, her co-founder of what became the United Farm Workers, manipulated and pressured her into sex once and, in a second encounter, forced her “against my will” to have sex.

“The first time I was manipulated and pressured into having sex with him, and I didn’t feel I could say no because he was someone that I admired, my boss and the leader of the movement I had already devoted years of my life to,” Huerta said in a statement published online. “The second time I was forced, against my will, and in an environment where I felt trapped.”

Huerta first revealed her allegations of the sexual assault to the New York Times, which published an investigation Wednesday of allegations by her and two other women, who said they were 13 and 15 when Chavez first sexually molested them.

The newspaper said it relied on interviews with more than 60 people, including former top aides, relatives and former members of the United Farm Workers. It also combed union records, confidential emails, photographs and recordings of U.F.W. board meetings.

Chavez, who was Mexican American, is one of the most celebrated and recognized Latinos in modern U.S. history and an inspiration to generations who credit his work with inspiring their own activism and causes. He died in 1993.

The news is expected to generate profound reverberations in the Mexican American and Latino communities, and many consider Chavez to be a civil rights hero. He has been honored at the highest levels of government, many streets are named for him and he is a symbol of the longtime struggle for equality for Mexican Americans, the largest Latino group in the U.S., as well as for farmworkers.

Civil rights marches regularly took place on March 31, which President Barack Obama in 2014 designated as Cesar Chavez Day and falls on Chavez’s birthday. In California, it is recognized as a state holiday.

Huerta said she was a young mother in the 1960s at the time of Chavez’s sexual assault.

Now 96, Huerta said in her statement that she kept it “a secret” because “I believed exposing the truth would hurt the farmworker movement I have spent my entire life fighting for.

The Times reported it could not corroborate Huerta’s allegations.

Several Cesar Chavez Day activities are reportedly being canceled across the country amid allegations against the civil rights leader. Sergio Quintana reports.

Huerta’s statement comes a day after several communities canceled Cesar Chavez Day activities in anticipation of the allegations becoming widely public. The Cesar Chavez Foundation said in a statement Tuesday it had become aware of “very troubling allegations.” The UFW warned that “very young women or girls may have been victimized.”

Huerta said both sexual encounters led to pregnancies, which she kept secret. Two children were born and Huerta arranged for them to be raised by other families “who could give them stable lives,” she stated.

“The knowledge that he hurt young girls sickens me. My heart aches for everyone who suffered alone and in silence for years,” Huerta said.

Huerta did not respond to NBC News’ requests for comment. Her spokesperson provided the statement.