SEATTLE — The daughter of "Deadliest Catch" star Sig Hansen is alleging her father sexually abused her when she was a toddler, according to a report in the Seattle Times.
The estranged daughter, Melissa Eckstrom, says the abuse occurred when her parents were divorcing.
Eckstrom, now 28, works as a family law attorney in Seattle.
From the Seattle Times:
"As a result of the alleged abuse, [Eckstrom] contends in a lawsuit that she battled depression, eating disorders, suicidal thoughts and other trauma throughout her childhood. She also claims that she still harbors memories of her father's abuse of her as a 2-year-old in 1990.
"I have memories … of being in a room alone with my father and crying out in pain," Eckstrom stated in a court declaration."
Sig Hansen's attorney reached out to KIRO 7 to provide a statement from Hansen. Read it in its entirety below.
"I'm a pretty plain-spoken guy, and to me, this is nothing more than a shakedown. The allegations are completely false, rehashed lies my ex-wife Lisa Eckstrom used nearly 30 years ago to take away my daughter, and has continued to try to use to extort money from me. The fact is, decades ago I was exonerated of these allegations after a full court trial. My ex-wife Lisa took me – and worst of all, my parents – to court for this back in 1990, making these baseless claims. We were fully exonerated after a prosecuting attorney, a judge, court-appointed experts, a guardian ad litem and team of other child experts all agreed that these claims were pure fiction. I cooperated 100 percent, including taking a polygraph test that also confirmed my innocence. The tragedy is that my ex-wife Lisa has poisoned my relationship with our daughter through years of vile lies. Lisa has spun a web of deceit, depriving my daughter and me of a healthy, loving relationship. To me, that is the definition of child abuse. This is the third time the Eckstrom family has threatened to publicly rehash lies about me unless I pay them a pile of money, and I finally said enough is enough. If you've got something, bring it, because it was BS then, and it is BS now."
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