Bill O'Reilly has been accused of physically assaulting his ex-wife Maureen McPhilmy during a custody battle for their two children.
Gawker obtained the court records on Monday even though documents in New York family court cases are usually kept sealed. The Nassau County Supreme Court justice in the case reportedly heard testimony from a forensic examiner that O'Reilly's daughter, Madeline, had witness an alleged domestic disturbance between her parents when she was nine years old.
The now 16-year-old girl claimed O'Reilly grabbed McPhilmy by the neck and dragged her down the staircase in their home in Manhasset, N.Y. The Fox News anchor may not have realized his daughter could see the incident take place.
The case closed three weeks ago, awarding the 49-year-old McPhilmy full custody of her daughter and 11-year-old son, Spencer. The 65-year-old O'Reilly already has appealed the case.
O'Reilly released a statement through his attorney, Fred Newman, to several media organizations, including Politico, The Wrap and the New York Daily News, which said, "All allegations against me in these circumstances are 100 percent false. I am going to respect the court-mandated confidentiality put in place to protect my children and will not comment any further."
The former couple separated in April 2010 and finalized their divorce in September 2011 after 15 years of marriage. At that time, they agreed to share custody of their children and to appoint a neutral therapist, named Lynne Kulakowski, to "arbitrate any potential custodial disputes, should they happen to arise in the future," according to court records.
McPhilmy later learned the her ex-husband had hired Kulakowski as a full-time employee "to performer virtually all of his parental duties." A New York appeals court ruled by a unanimous decision two years ago that O'Reilly's actions "could undermine the integrity" of the couple's prior joint-custody agreement, leading the way for McPhilmy to seek full custody, according to court records.
Since the divorce, O'Reilly has tried to complicate McPhilmy's life in other ways. He allegedly had an officer from the Nassau County Police Department investigated just for dating his ex-wife and also attempted to have McPhilmy excommunicated from the Catholic Church.
