Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ) claimed Monday that she was sexually abused by a track coach when she was in high school. The Republican lawmaker, currently running for the U.S. Senate seat soon vacated by Republican Sen. Jeff Flake, detailed the alleged abuse for the first time in a Wall Street Journal interview. “It took a while for me to come to a place where I understood what the hell I had been through,” McSally, said of coming to terms with the incident that allegedly occurred when she was 17. She claimed that her track coach—two decades older than her—developed a “father figure” relationship with her, and ultimately pressured her into sex. “Even though he didn’t physically force me, it certainly was an emotional manipulation,” McSally told the Journal. “I was freaking out that he would get me pregnant,” she recalled. The Journal identified the coach as Jack Dwyer, based off a yearbook, and when reached for comment, he denied the allegations.