Did Timothy Hutton Rape Canadian Ex-Model Sera Johnston In 1983? Shocking New Allegations — And His Response

Though he, perhaps, is not a household name today, there was a time when he was one of the most sought-after actors of the 1980's. He even made history with his Oscar win! 

Now, however, he's making the news for an entirely different reason: because he stands accused of raping a 14-year-old girl back in 1983, when she was working as a model. 

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So, who is Timothy Hutton, and what do we know about these serious charges? Let's look at what we know.

1. Who is Timothy Hutton? He is the youngest actor to ever win a Best Supporting Actor Oscar. 

After a successful string of appearances in television movies — including the film Young Love, First Love with Valerie Bertinelli — Hutton made history when in 1980, he became the youngest actor to ever win a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as Conrad Jarrett in the tear-jerker film, Ordinary People. In addition to being the directorial debut of Robert Redford, Ordinary People was one of the first mainstream films to tackle suicide on a real level, making it far ahead of its time.

2. He is being accused of rape by Sera Johnston.

Sera Johnston is a former actress and model based in Canada who spoke about the alleged rape by Timothy Hutton. Johnston also says that Hutton's friend, who was in the hotel room with him at the time, also allegedly raped her. 

3. She says he raped her when she was 14, and he was filming Iceman. 

According to the interview, Johnston said that she went up to Hutton's hotel room, where he and his friend raped her in what she called an "almost-ritualistic" fashion. The outlet corroborated her interview by interviewing five other people, including Johnston's mother — who was a former set decorator — and others who were in the hotel room with her at the time the alleged rape happened. 

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4. She initially didn't come forward with the rape allegations.

Johnston said that the reason she didn't come forward to report the rape at the time was that she was afraid of being blacklisted by the film and television industry, saying she regrets the decision not to come forward at the time. Johnston also initially agreed to a settlement with Hutton of $135,000, but decided not to take the offer when she realized Hutton would be able to deny any wrongdoing. Additionally, Johnston's ex-boyfriend also approached Hutton's friend — who is also being accused of rape by Johnston — for another settlement.

5. She filed a complaint with the Vancouver Police Department last year. 

Last year, Johnston filed a criminal complaint against Hutton with the Vancouver Police Department, stemming from the alleged rape back in 1983. Although the age of consent in Canada is 16 years old nationwide as of 2020, it was only 14 years old at the time of the alleged rape back in 1983. However, there is no statute of limitations for rape in Canada, which is why Johnston was able to file a criminal complaint.

6. Hutton and his representatives have responded, calling Johnston a liar who is trying to "extort" him. 

“For the past two-and-a-half years, I have been the target of multiple extortion attempts by a woman named Sera Dale Johnston to extract millions of dollars from me. She threatened that if I did not meet her demands, she would go to the press with a false allegation that I sexually assaulted her 37 years ago in Canada. I never assaulted Ms. Johnston,” Hutton said in an exclusive statement. "Today, BuzzFeed chose to publish Ms. Johnston’s false story. BuzzFeed knew the truth because they were provided with documented evidence. What’s really going on here is that Ms. Johnston’s extortion attempts failed. She then decided to follow through on her threat to go to the press with her false story. When I became aware of this, I went to the FBI, signed a sworn statement, and filed a criminal complaint against Ms. Johnston for extortion. I will not stop fighting to expose this story for what it is – a failed extortion attempt based on something that never happened.”

What's more, Hutton's legal team also issued a statement demanding that BuzzFeed retract their story. "If BuzzFeed wrongfully refuses to retract the article, Tim is prepared to take any and all necessary steps, including the filing of a defamation lawsuit, to clear his name and to hold BuzzFeed and Ms. Johnston accountable for their reckless and self-serving efforts to destroy Tim’s reputation and career,” Tom Clare, Hutton’s counsel, said in the same exclusive statement.

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Bernadette Giacomazzo is an editor, writer, publicist, and photographer whose work has appeared in Teen Vogue, People, Us Weekly, The Source, XXL, HipHopDX, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Post, BET.com, and more.