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November 29, 2007

Cape Cod woman, son, sue tabloid over Kennedy stories

BOSTON, Mass. -- A Cape Cod woman and her son have sued The National Enquirer, claiming the supermarket tabloid fabricated stories that said she gave birth to a child fathered by Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy.

The defamation suit filed in federal court in Boston on Tuesday claims two articles that appeared in the tabloid in early 2006 contained "false and sensationalized reporting and outright fabrications."

The articles claimed Caroline Bilodeau-Allen of Sandwich gave birth to a child fathered by Kennedy more than two decades ago, and the Democrat gave her money and other gifts to keep the incident a secret.

The lawsuit claims Bilodeau-Allen and her son, Christopher Allen, were "emotionally devastated" by the articles and sought mental health counseling as a result. Bilodeau-Allen suffered severe weight loss and Allen, a 22-year-old college student, "was subjected to ridicule and scorn among his peer group."

"These articles negatively affected every aspect of their being," said David H. Rich, a lawyer for mother and son.

Rich would not comment on whether Bilodeau-Allen and Kennedy knew each other.

The National Enquirer said in a statement that it had no reason to doubt the source of the information and that the plaintiffs declined several opportunities to deny the initial story prior to publication.

"We intend to vigorously defend the lawsuit and have every confidence that we will prevail at trial," the statement said.

Kennedy's office did not immediately return a message for comment.

The lawsuit also named the tabloid's parent company, American Media Inc., which operates in Boca Raton, Fla., and reporters Alan Butterfield and Richard Moriarty as defendants. It seeks unspecified monetary damages.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Mike McKinney  at 5:07 PM | Permalink

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