Dolores Huerta opens up about Cesar Chavez abuse allegations: 'It was very hard to keep this'

"It was very hard. It was very hard to keep this but, you know, I think I am building on the courage of these young women that they had the courage to come out and say what happened to them, and God knows what they've suffered ... so it was time. It was time."

"Even more than sick, it's devastating. It's devastating because Cesar spoke about and practiced the nonviolent movement. Well, what could be more violent than that, you know? To think that somebody that we looked at as our hero and our leader, you know, it's pretty horrible."

"Well, I would hope that his legacy would live on in the things that were accomplished. The improvements that were made, and it's sad to think that he had this dark side to him."

Dolores Huerta, 95, revealed in an interview with ABC News that Cesar Chavez pressured her into sexual encounters and raped her when she was in her 20s, resulting in two children she arranged for others to raise. Huerta kept these experiences secret for decades until inspired by other women's courage in coming forward following a New York Times investigation documenting Chavez's grooming and sexual abuse. She expressed devastation at the contradiction between Chavez's nonviolent movement advocacy and his violent actions toward women. Despite the revelations, Huerta hopes Chavez's legacy will focus on farmworker rights improvements while acknowledging his dark side.

Read at ABC7 Los Angeles