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Jackson admits to affair
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THE Rev Jesse Jackson, the civil rights leader who counselled President Bill Clinton on his White House sex scandal and preached to generations of American youth on the value of self worth, admitted on Thursday he fathered a child born out of wedlock 20 months ago.
The girl, born to a former Jackson aide, lives with her mother in Los Angeles and Jackson is paying US$3,000 a month in child support, a Jackson spokesman said.
She was pregnant with the child at the time Jackson made visits to the White House to counsel Clinton on the Monica Lewinsky affair, in the weeks before the scandal growing out of the president's relationship with the intern triggered his impeachment in December 1998.
The 59-year-old Jackson, himself born out of wedlock, said he was "truly sorry" and was seeking forgiveness from his wife of 38 years and his supporters.
"I am father to a daughter who was born outside of my marriage. As her mother does, I love this child very much and have assumed responsibility for her emotional and financial support since she was born," Jackson said in a brief statement issued by a New York public relations firm. "This is no time for evasions, denials or alibis. I fully accept responsibility and I am truly sorry for my actions."
Jackson, an ordained Baptist minister, is the father of five grown children including Illinois Rep Jesse Jackson Jr. (SD-Agencies)
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