Additional women have said Sen. Al Franken touched them inappropriately during photo ops. | Mark Wilson/Getty Images CNN: Army veteran accuses Franken of groping her in 2003

An Army veteran has accused Sen. Al Franken of groping her breast during a 2003 USO tour in Kuwait, the fifth woman to come forward with accusations against the Minnesota Democrat in the last two weeks.

Former military policewoman Stephanie Kemplin told CNN Franken put his hand on her breast during a photo opportunity, keeping it there for five to 10 seconds, which she said was long enough that he should have noticed if it was a mistake.


"When he put his arm around me, he groped my right breast. He kept his hand all the way over on my breast," Kemplin told CNN. "I've never had a man put their arm around me and then cup my breast. So he was holding my breast on the side."

After Franken failed to move his hand, Kemplin said she shifted her body to get his hand off of her breast. In a photo of the two released by CNN, Franken’s hand is around Kemplin’s back at roughly chest level but is not on her breast.

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A Franken spokesperson said in a statement that the senator "takes thousands of photos and has met tens of thousands of people and he has never intentionally engaged in this kind of conduct." His office said he would cooperate with a Senate ethics investigation.

The accusation made by Kemplin matches a pattern established by the other allegations against Franken. His first accuser, broadcaster Leeann Tweeden, said Franken insisted on kissing her during a rehearsal for a skit the two performed on a USO tour in 2006 and then later appeared to touch her chest in a photo as she slept.

Other women have said Franken touched them inappropriately during photo ops.

"I was in a war zone...You were on a USO tour — are you trying to boost the morale of the troops or are you trying to boost your own?" Kemplin said. "I just feel so sorry for that young girl in that picture."

