In 2002, Hatcher was visiting her parents in her native Sunnyvale when she read about teenager Sarah Van Cleempunt who had committed suicide and left behind a note that said "You're probably thinking a normal teenager doesn't do this; well, ask Dick!" Dick was Richard Hayes Stone, Hatcher's uncle, who had been a trusted family friend of the Van Cleemputs and both families had vacationed together. Hatcher contacted prosecutors and with a tape recording running, Hatcher explained in detail how her uncle - the then-husband of her mother's sister - allegedly molested her in the late 1960s and early '70s when she was no more than 7. After prosecutors gave the defense a transcript of Hatcher's interview, Stone pleaded guilty Oct. 24, 2002, leaving no need for a trial nor a court appearance for Hatcher. His victim included another girl who has never been identified. Stone, then 64-years-old, pleaded guilty to four counts of child molestation in the case of the 14-year-old victim and received 14 years in prison. Chuck Gillingham, the Santa Clara County deputy district attorney in California, said, "Without Teri, this case would have been dismissed."
In an interview with Vanity Fair for their April 2006 edition, Hatcher revealed that at the time she talked to the authorities, she was afraid if her story came out in the tabloids, she would be seen as a has-been actress seeking publicity. "At the end of the day, there was no way I was not going to put this girl first, before whatever damage might be done to me," Hatcher told the magazine. "But my fear is far outweighed by what I know is my obligation to help other victims of sexual abuse to not feel alone."
The perpetrator of the abuse, Richard Hayes Stone, died of colon cancer in prison in August 2008.
