California winery owner Mark Hanson is accused of raping sister Hilary McKean

US News

From Allie Griffin

A well-known California winery owner has been accused of raping and sexually abusing his younger sister over a six-year period when the siblings were young. She filed a lawsuit against him.

Hilary McKean, 60, is suing her brother Mark Hanson, 63, over alleged repeated abuse when the siblings were growing up together in the 1970s.

McKean recently recalled the many instances in which her half-brother — the owner of Bricoleur Vineyards in Sonoma County — allegedly came into her bedroom at night and repeatedly assaulted her from ages 8 to 14, after suppressing the memories all those years, according to the suit.

California’s statute of limitations allows alleged victims of sexual assault to file a lawsuit in court within five years from the date the victim realizes they were abused and suffered psychological harm.

McKean, who lives in Montana, is seeking unspecified damages for the problems she faced as a result of the alleged assaults – including developing depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

According to the lawsuit, she is also seeking a jury trial.

She said the alleged abuse began when the family moved into a new house where her and her brother’s bedrooms were close to each other but far from her parents’ room.

She accused Hanson of a “battle of recurring violent sexual abuse and rape that was multi-faceted” that included unwanted sexual intercourse, penetration, oral sex, forced masturbation and choking, and foot fetish kinks against her will.

The repressed memories returned to McKean in the spring of 2022, the lawsuit says. She was writing her memoirs at the time, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

“I think there’s a lot of pressure to protect the family’s reputation and not talk about these things.”
McKean told the local newspaper. “I don’t really think it’s healthy for anyone to hold on to these secrets. It’s not healthy for me and it’s not healthy in our society. We need to be able to talk about what happened to us.”

Hanson has denied the allegations and accused his sister of making the whole thing up for money, he told the Chronicle through his lawyer.

“Hilary invented and invented details with the sole intention of portraying me in the best possible way
“I have made harmful attempts to extort significant sums of money from myself,” he said.

Hanson’s attorney could not immediately be reached by The Post.

IIf you have been sexually assaulted and live in New York, you can call 1-800-942-6906 for free and confidential crisis counseling. If you live out of state, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline 24 hours a day at 1-800-656-4673.