RFK Jr. apologizes to women who accused him of sexual assault: reports

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. privately apologized to a woman who accused him of sexual assault, according to several media reports.

Eliza Cooney, who worked as a part-time nanny for the candidate’s family in the 1990s, described several incidents in a report by Vanity Fair in which Kennedy was inappropriate and made sexual advances to the then-23-year-old.

Kennedy apologized in a text message to Cooney over the report on July 4, two days after the Vanity Fair piece was published, according to the Washington Post , which first reported the text, and Reuters.

“I have no memory of this incident but I apologize sincerely for anything I ever did that made you feel uncomfortable or anything I did or said that offended you or hurt your feelings,” Kennedy wrote in the text, according to the reports. “I never intended you any harm. If I hurt you, it was inadvertent. I feel badly for doing so.”

Kennedy also asked whether Cooney, who is now 48, would be comfortable to meet face-to-face, adding that he has “no agenda for sending this text other than making the most sincere and ernest amends.”

While Kennedy privately apologized, the presidential candidate initially dismissed the allegation as part of his "rambunctious youth" during an interview on the "Breaking Points" podcast published on July 2.

"I have said this from the beginning: I am not a church boy," Kennedy said. "I have so many skeletons in my closet that if they could all vote, I could run for king of the world."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: RFK Jr. apologizes to women who accused him of sexual assault: reports