Miss NY adds child sex abuse to platform

She grew up in Alabama and moved to New York City to chase her dreams. Now Mallory Hagan, 23, says she hopes to educate the country about child sexual abuse as the newly crowned Miss America.

Hagan won a $50,000 college scholarship and a year as an instant celebrity and role model to many girls with her victory late Saturday. She's the first Miss New York to become Miss America since 1984.

Hagan said after her win that it was her mother who encouraged her to tackle the issue of child sex abuse in her platform. She said sexual abuse had "rippled through" her family, touching her mother, aunt, grandmother and cousins.

Her mother had trouble at first convincing others of the trauma she had faced.

"That kind of sent her into a whirlwind of anxiety and depression. So as a teen I lost my mom kind of for a couple years," she said. "She was dealing with her own issues, and that's something that now as an adult I understand, but then I certainly did not."

During an interview backstage, Hagan's mother, Mandy Moore, wiped away tears as she spoke. "It's very overwhelming," she said. "It's all hitting me so fast."

Hagan said she will work to make child abuse education mandatory in all 50 states. "It's something I can hopefully change for the next generation," she said.

Hagan left her native Alabama for New York at 18 with less than $1,000 in her pocket. She tried for the Miss New York title in 2010 and 2011 before winning last year.

She studied communications at the Fashion Institute of Technology and has been living in Park Slope, Brooklyn. She aspires to be a global cosmetic company executive.

The previous winner from New York was actress Vanessa Williams, who became the first black winner when she took the crown in 1984.

Hagan is the first Brooklyn-dweller to claim the title.

Hagan's boyfriend, Charmel Maynard, said he thinks pageants are dismissed by some, but he hopes Hagan's willingness to take on the sexual abuse issue will lend legitimacy to her new role. "I don't think it's taken seriously, but I think she's going to be a great ambassador and it could change," he said.