Lonely and Neglected, He Says in Book Outline : Reagan’s Son Tells of Being Molested as a Child

Michael Reagan, son of President Reagan, says he was lonely and neglected as a child and was sexually molested repeatedly as a 7-year-old by a “father-figure” day-camp leader.

In an outline of an autobiography circulating in New York publishing houses and obtained by the Associated Press, Reagan described a troubled childhood in which he was emotionally unable to resist the molestation.

The President and Nancy Reagan only learned of the molestation when Michael Reagan and his family visited them on Palm Sunday in California.

Reagan, asked about the incident, said: “I’m sorry. When he was a little boy, he didn’t let us know at the time.”

Speaking with reporters at a state dinner for Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone Thursday, Reagan said he hopes that the book will help people.

The outline presents the story of a confused and neglected little boy, adopted to please another child--Maureen Reagan, who had asked for a brother.

After the divorce of Reagan and actress Jane Wyman, the boy saw them only on alternate weekends, the outline said.

As a result, from the ages of 3 to 10, Michael believed that a black family cook was his mother, he wrote in the outline.

He also wrote that a day-camp leader he idolized as a father-figure molested him “for almost a year” and once took photographs of him posing nude. He said he was afraid to tell any one about the molestation.

“When Dad ran for President I had visions of him losing because those pictures taken 34 years ago might turn up,” Reagan wrote.