Andrea Robin Skinner, daughter of Canadian Nobel laureate Alice Munro, has accused her stepfather of sexually abusing her during her childhood. She revealed that her mother was aware of the abuse but chose to remain with him.
Now an adult, Skinner shared these allegations in an essay published by The Toronto Star on Sunday. According to another article in The Toronto Star, Skinner reported the abuse to Ontario police, leading to her stepfather, Gerald Fremlin, being charged with indecent assault in 2005. Fremlin, then 80 years old, pleaded guilty.
Fremlin received a suspended sentence and probation for two years. Munro stayed with Fremlin until his death in 2013.
Due to her mother’s notoriety, Skinner wrote, “the silence continued.” Munro passed away on May 13 at the age of 92.
“I wanted a record of the truth, some public proof that I hadn’t deserved what had happened to me,” Skinner wrote about her decision to go to the police in 2005, nearly 30 years after the abuse began.