'Modern Family' star Sarah Hyland groped at appearance
Sarah Hyland arrives at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. (Sept. 22, 2013) Credit: AP
Australian police have arrested a man for allegedly groping "Modern Family" star Sarah Hyland while posing with her at a promotional event in Sydney Thursday.
"Sorry to all the fans outside the Qantas event that I didn't get to say hi to, but I had to leave due to an inappropriate touch of a fan," wrote Hyland, 23, who plays Haley Dunphy on the four-time Emmy Award-winning comedy.
Hyland has been in Australia with the rest of the cast since Tuesday for the show's location filming of a vacation episode.
The actress, attending a "Modern Family" event sponsored by Australia's national airline at the Pier One Sydney Harbour hotel, immediately alerted private security guards, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
New South Wales Police, responding to a 7:50 p.m. report of a woman being "indecently assaulted," arrested a 29-year-old man at the scene, a police spokesman told the paper. The unnamed man was released on bail and is scheduled to appear at Downing Centre Local Court on March 14.
Responding to the incident, Hyland's boyfriend Matt Prokop -- with whom she starred in the 2011 Disney Channel telefilm "Geek Charming" and who appeared in a 2012 episode of "Modern Family" -- posted an angry tweet: "To the [expletive] who assaulted Sarah tonight I hope to God you don't see next week. All Sarah wanted to do tonight was say hi to the girls who were waiting outside. One [expletive] can ruin it for everyone. Goodnight."
