Photographer Terry Richardson is under investigation by the New York Police Department following an accusation of rape by model Caron Bernstein. The New York Daily News reported on Tuesday that the fashion photographer is the target of NYPD’s Special Victims Squad. Bernstein, 47, was among those to be contacted by special victims detectives for a meeting, Daily News reports. Bernstein said that she met with Richardson for a photo shoot at his Lower East Side apartment back in 2003, but Richardson then allegedly positioned her in a chair and started taking photos of her before exposing his penis and “forcing himself into her mouth,” reports The Hollywood Reporter.
“It was like literally being shot with a stun gun. My brain just went on pause,” Bernstein said to Daily News. Bernstein alleges that Richardson ejaculated on her chest — she had agreed to pose topless during the photo shoot — and then continued to take photos. Bernstein said she ran crying to a friend’s house afterward, and told her friend what happened. Former model Lindsay Jones, who told Huffington Post that Richardson sexually assaulted her, said she was also contacted by detectives for a meeting regarding Richardson, who has been accused of sexual harassment and assault by models for many years. It wasn’t until after the Harvey Weinstein scandal brought sexual misconduct into the spotlight, Conde Nast International, Valentino and Diesel all announced they were cutting ties with him.
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