Sarah Hyland allegedly indecently groped in Sydney; man charged

“Modern Family” star Sarah Hyland was allegedly indecently groped on the chest by a man who asked her to pose for a photo during a Thursday night event in Sydney, Australia.

The 23-year-old actress abruptly left the scene near tears, according to E! News, which cited eyewitnesses who said Hyland pushed the man away and yelled “Don’t touch me there!” before security guards got involved.

A 29-year-old man was arrested on the scene and charged with assault with an act of indecency, New South Wales police told the Sydney Morning Herald. He’s now out on bail, ordered to return to court March 14.

Hyland and the “Modern Family” cast have been Down Under since Tuesday shooting scenes for a holiday episode, the newspaper said, and had been filming earlier in the day Thursday. Shooting will continue next week in other locations.

As quick as she was to leave, Hyland was quick to apologize for her departure.

“Sorry to all the fans outside the #quantas event that I didn’t get to say hi to but I had to leave due to an inappropriate touch of a fan,” she said on Twitter.

Her boyfriend, actor Matt Prokop, was angrier in his tweets.

“To the ... who assaulted Sarah tonight I hope to God you don’t see next week,” said Prokop, who’s been traveling with Hyland. “All Sarah wanted to do tonight was say hi to the girls who were waiting outside one douche can ruin it for everyone. Goodnight.”

After apparently getting some flak over wishing another person ill, Prokop basically told Twitter to take a hike, saying he really did believe that anyone who assaulted a woman “or a man for [that] matter” deserved a lousy life.

The incident marred a trip that had by all signs been going well to that point. “We almost didn’t turn up to work today, just because we were having so much fun,” costar Rico Rodriguez told the Morning Herald prior to Thursday night. “But we have to work -- and then we’re going back to play.”

Hyland had posted a shot of herself Wednesday with Rodriguez and Ashley Winter at an aquarium on Wednesday, and another of herself with Winter and Sofia Vergara captioned, “Here’s to the ladies who lunch.” Vergara and Eric Stonestreet posted social media messages while separately attending a Bruce Springsteen concert Wednesday in Sydney, Vergara posing in her WhoSay picture with fiancé Nick Loeb.

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