One of the stars of the hit television show Modern Family has been allegedly indecently assaulted outside a Sydney venue where a function was being held for the cast members.
Sarah Hyland was attending a Qantas event at The Sebel Pier One on Hickson Road in The Rocks on Thursday night when she was allegedly groped on the chest by a man who had asked her to pose for a photograph.
The 23-year-old immediately alerted private security guards, who called police to the scene.
The actress was shaken up by the incident, and left the event early.
A NSW Police spokesman confirmed that police were called to Hickson Road in The Rocks at 7.50pm on Thursday to reports that a 23-year-old woman had been indecently assaulted.
The spokesman said a 29-year-old man was arrested at the scene and was charged with assault with an act of indecency.
He has been granted conditional bail to appear at Downing Centre Local Court on March 14.
Hyland, who plays oldest sibling Haley Dunphy in the sitcom, turned to Twitter to explain her early exit from the Sydney function.
Sorry to all the fans outside the #qantas event that I didn’t get to say hi to but I had to leave due to an inappropriate touch of a fan
— Sarah Hyland (@Sarah_Hyland) February 20, 2014
Her boyfriend Matt Prokop, who has travelled to Australia with Hyland, tweeted: “To the a**hole who assaulted Sarah tonight I hope to God you don’t see next week [sic].”
“All Sarah wanted to do tonight was say hi to the girls who were waiting outside one douche can ruin it for everyone. Goodnight.”
A representative for Hyland has been contacted for comment.
Hyland has been in Australia with the rest of the Modern Family cast since Tuesday, and is due to spend two weeks shooting scenes for a special holiday episode of the television show.
On Thursday the cast was seen filming at Dawes Point Park, next to Sydney’s Harbour Bridge.
As well as filming around Sydney, the production will shift to Hayman Island and the Great Barrier Reef for two days next week.
In their down-time, some of the stars have been spotted at Bondi Beach, Circular Quay, Manly and Darling Harbour, as well as at the Bruce Springsteen concert at Allphones Arena on Wednesday night.
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– Sydney Morning Herald
