Arizona Rep. Martha McSally, a Republican, said one of her high school track coaches sexually abused her when she was 17.
McSally, who is running for the seat currently held by retiring Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., told the Wall Street Journal the abuse occurred when she was a high school senior at St. Mary Academy-Bay View, an all-girls Catholic school located in Riverside, R.I.
McSally said she turned to athletics, including swimming and running, after her father died when she was between sixth and seventh grade in an effort to “escape from the grief of losing my dad.”
While in high school and running cross country and track, McSally said she grew close to a coach who was 20 years her senior.
The coach pressured her into having sex with him. McSally also said he used different psychological tactics to ensure she remained quiet about the encounter.
“Even though he didn’t physically force me, it certainly was an emotional manipulation,” McSally told the Wall Street Journal.
The Arizona Republican said she was “freaking out that he would get me pregnant” and ran longer distances in an attempt to stop her menstrual cycle.
A spokeswoman for St. Mary Academy-Bay View told the paper the high school yearbook from 1984 identified the track coach at the time as Jack Dwyer.
Dwyer confirmed he coached McSally, but denied the allegations of sexual misconduct.
“I believe she’s nuts,” he told the Wall Street Journal. “That girl is the most scheming woman I ever met.”
Dwyer accused McSally of coming to his house “a few times, uninvited, with and without other people.” He said they did not have sex.
“This is another of her little schemes to make her look like this has happened to her,” he said.
Responding to Dwyer’s comments, McSally said in a statement that Dwyer “is a troubled man who I have forgiven, and I hope he finds God’s peace and grace.”
McSally told two women about Dwyer’s behavior, and one notified the school’s principal about his alleged sexual misconduct. The woman did not identify McSally.
Dwyer was then fired, the woman told the Wall Street Journal.
But Dwyer said he resigned to work elsewhere.
Rich Robinson, who knew McSally when she was stationed at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona, said she told him about her coach’s alleged behavior around 1994 while the two were running together.
McSally, the first female pilot to fly in combat, said her experience with Dwyer played a role in her decision to attend the Air Force Academy in Colorado.
“One of the many reasons why I ended up leaving Rhode Island and going to the Air Force Academy was to get away from him,” she said. “I needed to geographically get to another place.”
The Arizona congresswoman said she looked into taking legal action against her former high school track coach, but said her options were limited.
Reflecting on her experience with her former track coach, McSally said it took her some time to grasp what happened.
“It took a while for me to come to a place where I understood what the hell I had been through,” she told the Wall Street Journal. “At the time, I was so afraid. I now understand — like many girls and boys who are abused by people in authority over them — there’s a lot of fear and manipulation and shame.”
