Labor leader Dolores Huerta responds to abuse allegations against Cesar Chavez

(CBS, KYMA) - Labor leader Dolores Huerta appeared to corroborate allegations of abuse against young women or minors by the late Cesar Chavez Wednesday, writing, in a statement, she had two non-consensual "sexual encounters" with him that ended in pregnancy.

The allegations of abuse by Chavez, himself a union and civil rights leader, were first reported by the New York Times on Wednesday morning.

Chavez and Huerta were co-founders of the National Farm Workers Association in the 1960s. The group later became the United Farm Workers (UFW) union, which still represents nearly 5,000 farm workers. Chavez died in 1993. Huerta remains active in politics.

Huerta, 95, wrote that she kept the assaults secret because she "believed that exposing the truth would hurt the farmworker movement I have spent my entire life fighting for."

The investigation and the allegations shared within it inspired her to share her experiences, she said.

"I carried this secret for as long as I did because building the movement and securing farmworker rights was my life's work. The formation of a union was the only vehicle to achieve and secure those rights and I wasn't going to let Cesar or anyone else get in the way," Huerta wrote. "I channeled everything I had into advocating on behalf of millions of farmworkers and others who were suffering and deserved equal rights."

As a result of the allegations against Chavez, the UFW said they will not participate in any March 31 Cesar Chavez activities this year.

The Cesar Chavez Foundation also released a statement Tuesday saying they are deeply shocked and saddened by the allegations.