Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain on Tuesday said there was no truth to a Chicago-area woman's claims of sexual harassment and said he wasn't going to let the allegations derail his campaign.
"The charges and the accusations I absolutely reject. They simply didn't happen. They simply did not happen," he said at a press conference in Scottsdale, Ariz. "I have never acted inappropriately with anyone, period."
Cain's attorney, Lin Wood, said it was unfortunate that Cain had to respond to "hearsay, to rumors and speculation."
"He's not afforded the opportunity by me to cross-examine his accusers," said Wood.
Following a trio of anonymous women who said they'd had inappropriate encounters with Cain, a fourth woman came forward Monday with a specific, graphic description of an incident she said she had with Cain.
Cain "put his hand on my leg under my skirt and reached for my genitals. He also grabbed my head and brought it towards his crotch," said Sharon Bialek of Mundelein.
Cain said Tuesday that had never seen Bialek until her news conference on Monday in New York, when she was flanked by her attorney, Gloria Allred.
"I don't even know who this woman is," he said of Bialek. "I tried to remember if I recognized her and I didn't."
Cain said he was willing to take a lie detector test, "if necessary," to prove his version of the truth.
He affirmed that he wouldn't allow the charges derail his campaign for the highest office in the land.
"Ain't gonna happen," he said. "I'm doing this for the American people and for the children and the grandchildren. I will not be deterred by false, anonymous, incorrect accusations."
His campaign staff on Tuesday morning sent out a mass email to reporters titled "Who is Sharon Bialek?" in which they paint the former National Restaurant Association employee as a gold digger with a sordid past.
Bialek took to the national morning news programs and said the truth -- not money -- was the motivation behind her coming forward.
