WASHINGTON - Another woman has accused former US President George H.W. Bush of touching her buttocks without consent.

Roslyn Corrigan told Time magazine that the former president squeezed her buttocks in November 2003 during photo-taking when she was 16 years old.

In an interview published on Monday (Nov 13), Corrigan, now 30, said the incident happened at an event in the office of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in The Woodlands, Texas, where her father and other intelligence officers, as well as their family members, had gathered to meet Bush, then 79.

Corrigan told the magazine that Bush touched her while she was being photographed standing next to him.

"As soon as the picture was being snapped on the one-two-three, he dropped his hands from my waist down to my buttocks and gave it a nice, ripe squeeze, which would account for the fact that in the photograph my mouth is hanging wide open," she said, speaking publicly for the first time about the incident.

"My initial reaction was absolute horror. I was really, really confused," said Corrigan. "The first thing I did was look at my mom and, while he was still standing there, I didn't say anything.

"What does a teenager say to the ex-president of the United States? Like, 'Hey dude, you shouldn't have touched me like that?'" the magazine quoted her as saying.

She told her mother Sari Young about the incident as soon as Bush stepped away.

Young said she was "really, really upset" but did not take action as her husband's job could be "in jeopardy".

Bush spokesman Jim McGrath issued an apology on the former president's behalf. He told CNN: "George Bush simply does not have it in his heart to knowingly cause anyone distress, and he again apologises to anyone he offended during a photo op."

Time magazine said Corrigan is the sixth woman since Oct 24 to have accused Bush of publicly grabbing her buttocks without consent.

In late October, the Bush spokesman admitted that the former president "on occasion, has patted women's rears in what he intended to be a good-natured manner".

The other women who made similar claims included actresses Jordana Grolnick and Heather Lind.

Bush is one of several prominent figures to be accused of sexual assault recently. The New Yorker magazine reported 13 women had claimed that movie producer Harvey Weinstein sexually harassed or assaulted them but he had denied all of the accusations.

A fifth woman on Monday accused Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore of sexual misconduct, alleging that he assaulted her when she was a teenager, but he denied any wrongdoing.

Another five women also made sexual misconduct accusations against Emmy-winning comedian Louis C. K., who admitted to the misconduct and apologised for his actions.

And actor Kevin Spacey apologised to actor Anthony Rapp who had accused him of trying to seduce him in 1986 when Rapp was 14.