Civil rights icon, labor leader Cesar Chavez accused of assault girls, young women for decades

Labor union icon Cesar Chavez abused girls and raped fellow labor leader Dolores Huerta, according to a bombshell investigative report released Tuesday by The New York Times. 

Two women told the newspaper that Chavez abused them when they were girls, and Huerta said Chavez raping her resulted in two children, who were raised by others.

The report follows the cancellation of numerous events this month honoring Chavez, who came to prominence in the 1960s in California with the co-founding of the United Farm Workers union. He died in 1993 at the age of 66.

Ana Murguia, one of the two women who told the newspaper that Chavez abused them, said he began molesting her when she was 13 and he was 45 and that he did so dozens of other times over the next four years. 

Debra Rojas, the second of two women, alleged that Chavez,  also a civil rights activist, had statutorily raped her when she was 15, after he first molested her at age 12. Chavez allegedly abused them both from about 1972 to 1977, after he began grooming them when they were as young as 8 or 9.

Huerta alleged that she felt pressured to have sex with Chavez in a hotel room during a work trip in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., from which she became pregnant and had a child. Six years later, when Huerta was 36, she alleges that Chavez drove her out to a secluded grape field, parked, and raped her inside the vehicle. The rape also resulted in her having the child, and she had concealed both pregnancies by wearing baggy clothes and ponchos.

Huerta had two girls by Chavez, and 23andMe match results were reviewed, confirming Chavez’s biological ties. Chavez also had two other children with two other women, and the DNA results of those offspring also matched, according to The Times report. 

Huerta later had a long-term domestic partnership with Chavez’s brother Richard, who died in 2011, and with whom she had four children.

Additionally, Chavez had eight children with his wife, Helen Chavez.

The United Farm Workers issued a statement Tuesday saying that it would not take part in any activities celebrating Chavez’s birthday on March 31. The union said the “troubling allegations” that were surfacing were incompatible with the organization’s values, adding that it did not have "firsthand knowledge" of any of the claims.

“These allegations have been profoundly shocking. We need some time to get this right, including to ensure robust, trauma-informed services are available to those who may need it,” the union said in its statement.

Chavez’s family said Tuesday that they were “not in a position to judge” the claims.

“As a family steeped in the values of equity and justice, we honor the voices of those who feel unheard and who report sexual misconduct,” they said in a statement. “These allegations are deeply painful to our family.”

A handful of Chavez’s relatives and former UFW leaders were reportedly aware for years about various allegations of sexual misconduct. But there is no evidence that they made efforts to fully investigate them, acknowledge the victims or apologize to them. Many of the women say they were discouraged from speaking out to preserve Chavez’s public image.

The Times says its investigation is based on interviews with more than 60 people, including Chavez’s top aides at the time, his relatives and former UFW members. The newspaper also says it reviewed hundreds of pages of union records, confidential emails and photographs, in addition to hours of audio recordings from UFW board meetings.