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Police knock down Bynes sex harassment claim

Posted at 2:35 PM, May 28, 2013
and last updated 2013-05-28 14:35:54-04
Amanda Bynes Arrested

Amanda Bynes Arrested

By CNN Staff

(CNN) — New York police say they’ve found no evidence corroborating a claim by actress Amanda Bynes that she was sexually harassed after police were called to her apartment.

“A credible civilian witness who was with the officers throughout told investigators that none touched Ms. Bynes inappropriately or otherwise engaged in misconduct at any time,” a NYPD Internal Affairs representative said.

The incident is the latest in a series of run-ins with the law for Bynes, who had a squeaky-clean image as a teen actress.

Officers were called Thursday to her building in Manhattan’s theater district after her building manager reported the 27-year-old was smoking an “illegal substance” in the lobby, police said.

Bynes had headed back to her apartment by the time police arrived, but she let officers in when they knocked on the door, they said. Once inside, the officers noticed a bong and other marijuana paraphernalia sitting on a coffee table, which Bynes immediately started to throw out a window, police said.

Police charged her with tampering with physical evidence, reckless endangerment and criminal possession of marijuana. The endangerment stems from the possibility that the tossed paraphernalia could have hit someone below.

According to media reports, she appeared in court Friday and was then released until her next appearance in July.

Taking to Twitter to make her case, Bynes said the police account is “all lies.” Her story is that she was “sexually harassed by one of the cops the night before last” — the same police officer who, she wrote, ended up arresting her.

Bynes said she had opened her window “for fresh air” and didn’t throw out any drug paraphernalia. She insisted the officer lied when he said she did. Then, she alleged of the officer in her apartment, “He slapped my vagina. Sexual harassment. Big deal.”

Bynes said she was handcuffed, “which I resisted … then I was sent to a mental hospital. Offensive.”

“The cop sexually harassed me, they found no pot on me or bong outside my window,” Bynes tweeted. “That’s why the judge let me go.”

Bynes has a DUI case pending in Southern California, while a pair of separate hit-and-run charges against her were dismissed late last year. Earlier this month, the actress was sentenced to three years’ probation for driving on a suspended license.

A young teenager when she burst on the scene as the lead in Nickelodeon’s “The Amanda Show,” Bynes also starred alongside Jennie Garth in the sitcom “What I Like About You.” She later scored roles in movies, including “Hairspray” and “Easy A.”

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