Winery Owner Accused of Rape and Sexual Abuse by Younger Sister: Lawsuit

Hilary McKean alleges her brother Mark Hanson subjected her to “recurring violent sexual abuse and rape” over six years when they were minors, according to the complaint

Content warning: The following article contains disturbing allegations of sexual assault.

A California winery owner has been accused in a lawsuit of raping and sexually abusing his younger sister while they were growing up together.

A lawsuit, a copy of which was obtained by PEOPLE, was filed in the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco, against Mark Hanson by his sister, Hilary McKean.

McKean has publicly identified herself in the San Francisco Chronicle, which reports the parties are half-siblings who share a mother.

Hanson, 63, is co-founder and CEO of Bricoleur Vineyards in Sonoma County.

McKean, 60, is accusing her brother of “recurring violent sexual abuse and rape” over a period of “at least six years,” per the complaint.

The complaint alleges that the abuse started when McKean was 8 and continued until she was 14 after their family moved to a new home. Her and her brother’s bedrooms were located down a hallway that was separated from their parents and younger sister, and McKean alleges Hanson used this and “fervently preyed” on her, and claims he subjected her to unwanted sexual intercourse, oral sex, forced masturbation, choking and strangulation and “sucking on her toes against her will.”

Hanson has denied the allegations through his attorney to the outlet.

“Hilary has fabricated and invented details with the sole intention of portraying me in the most damaging way in an attempt to extort significant money from me,” Hanson said in a statement. “While my daughter concentrates on defeating cancer, I am also occupied running our joint family business in her absence. This speaks directly to my sister’s lack of character, compassion, and her motivation for money.”

McKean says she continues to suffer from injuries from the incidents, including “repeat tissue, muscle and organ damage” and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), severe anxiety, depression and “a loss of earning capacity.”

McKean is seeking unspecified damages, according to the complaint, along with a jury trial.

The complaint states McKean remembered her brother’s alleged actions in the spring of 2022 after previously “burying and repressing” her memories.

According to the Chronicle, McKean was writing a memoir at the time. “It was like a door opened and they came pouring out of a closet where they had been locked up,” she told the outlet.

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. 

“I think there’s a lot of pressure to preserve your family reputation and not talk about these things,” she continued. “I don’t really think that holding on to these secrets is healthy for anyone. It’s not healthy for me, and it’s not healthy inside our society. We have to be able to talk about what happened to us.”

Hanson was originally listed as “John Doe” in the complaint, which was filed in March. On April 26, a judge ruled Hanson could be publicly named as a defendant, according to the Chronicle.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.

If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.