Cain ‘cannot recall’ meeting sexual harassment accuser

REPUBLICAN Herman Cain insisted yesterday he could not remember meeting a woman who has accused him of groping her in the 1990s, as a spiralling scandal threatened to derail his White House bid.

Sharon Bialek is the first woman to go public with accusations of sexual harassment, accusing Cain of a sordid encounter in a car in Washington in 1997 when she asked him for help finding a job.

“When I first saw her, I didn’t even recognise her,” Cain told ABC. “I am honestly telling you, I can’t even recall knowing her back then.”

Bialek, the mother of a 13-year-old son, urged Cain to own up to the allegations at a press conference he was due to hold later in Arizona, saying she had spoken out as “it’s the right thing to do”.

“It’s not too late that he can step forward and just end this, just end it. I don’t want to be here, I don’t think anyone wants to, just end it, let’s move forward,” Bialek said.

Cain, a former pizza company executive once seen as the rank outsider in the race to be crowned the Republican presidential nominee, has been fighting mounting accusations of sexual harassment now involving four women.

The scandal is threatening to derail his campaign.

On Monday, Bialek accused Cain of groping her in a car in 1997 after she had turned to him for help in finding a job when he was president of the National Restaurant Association.

But asked yesterday if Bialek was lying, Cain replied: “Yes, I’m saying that in as nice a way as I can. I can categorically say I have never acted inappropriately with anyone, period.”

As pressure mounted on Cain, his Republican rival Mitt Romney broke his silence, telling ABC: “These are serious allegations.

“Any time there is an accuser that comes forward with charges of this nature you recognise this is a very serious matter and it should be taken seriously,” he said, adding Cain should be addressing the allegations.

Bialek, who has engaged high-profile attorney Gloria Allred to represent her, also insisted she had not been paid to come forward, despite admitting that she has declared bankruptcy in the past.