Cheryl Burke, Dancing With the Stars Champ, Molested by Retired Bay Area Postman
Categories: Celebrities
A retired Bay Area postman molested U.S. reality TV star Cheryl Burke when she was a child, according to People Magazine.
Burke, a professional dancer, is a two-time champion of Dancing With the Stars. She grew up in Atherton, where, at the age of five, she was repeatedly molested by a family friend, according to media reports.
The rapist was eventually charged with assaulting several children, and Burke was called to testify at his trial, the magazine reports. With the help of People Magazine staffer Monica Rizzo, a ghost writer, Burke has written a book capitalizing on her TV celebrity in which she describes the ordeal.
The experience was baffling for a child her age, Burke recalled.
"I saw his face and lawyers were asking me these questions and I was like, 'What am I doing? Did he even do anything wrong?'" the dancer reportedly said.
Burke calls the testimony "the hardest thing I've ever done," and says she worked through the trauma through years of counseling.
Follow us on Twitter at @TheSnitchSF and @SFWeekly
Burke, a professional dancer, is a two-time champion of Dancing With the Stars. She grew up in Atherton, where, at the age of five, she was repeatedly molested by a family friend, according to media reports.
The rapist was eventually charged with assaulting several children, and Burke was called to testify at his trial, the magazine reports. With the help of People Magazine staffer Monica Rizzo, a ghost writer, Burke has written a book capitalizing on her TV celebrity in which she describes the ordeal.
The experience was baffling for a child her age, Burke recalled.
"I saw his face and lawyers were asking me these questions and I was like, 'What am I doing? Did he even do anything wrong?'" the dancer reportedly said.
Burke calls the testimony "the hardest thing I've ever done," and says she worked through the trauma through years of counseling.
Follow us on Twitter at @TheSnitchSF and @SFWeekly
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