​Cast- and crewmembers, inspired by the nascent movement toward industry transparency in the post-Harvey Weinstein era, explain that the incident took place near the end of production on Born Killers (not to be confused with Oliver Stone’s earlier Natural Born Killers, which Sizemore also appeared in). It was during a second-unit still portrait session, to capture photos of Sizemore’s character with his abandoned wife and daughter. The imagery would serve as a plot device in the $5 million film, which was released by Lionsgate in 2005. The film centers on two immoral brothers on a crime spree. (Sizemore played the dissolute father who raised them.)

​The roughly half-hour session required the young actress, who had a small role in the production, to be seated on Sizemore’s lap in a holiday tableau. This is when Sizemore allegedly either rubbed his finger against the girl’s vagina or inserted it inside. Production manager Cassidy Lunnen recalls that “the girl was so young it was unclear to her and [later] her parents what had actually taken place and if it was intentional or not.”

During one setup, which required just the two of them, Robyn Adamson, who portrayed the wife, stood away, near the photographer. She recalls of the girl, who was wearing a flannel nightgown: “At one point her eyes got just huge, like she could’ve vomited. I was watching her. She soon reintegrated and kept going, although she had trouble taking direction. Later, when I was told about what happened, I knew exactly what it was.”