Bill O'Reilly Was Accused of Assaulting His Ex-Wife

Gawker uncovered testimony that accuses Bill O'Reilly of domestic violence.

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According to Gawker, the Nassau County Supreme Court justice who presiding over Bill O'Reilly three-year long child custody battle, heard testimony of O'Reilly assaulting his ex-wife, Maureen McPhilmy, in front of their children. Last month, the justice awarded custody of their two children to McPhilmy. 

Although almost all of the court documents relating to the case are sealed, Gawker reports that they "learned" of these testimonies from a "source familiar with the facts of the case:"

According to a source familiar with the facts of the case, a court-appointed forensic examiner testified at a closed hearing that O’Reilly’s daughter claimed to have witnessed her father dragging McPhilmy down a staircase by her neck, apparently unaware that the daughter was watching. The precise date of the alleged incident is unclear, but appears to have occurred before the couple separated in 2010. The same source indicated that the daughter, who is 16 years old, told the forensic examiner about the incident within the past year.

It's unclear if the allegations are true, or if the court has any way to verify them, or if anything will happen to O'Reilly as a result. But the testimonies are disturbing, to say the least.

They would also be, as Gawker reports, part of a pattern of cruel behavior towards his ex-wife; O'Reilly has previously tried to get her excommunicated from the Catholic Church (which the two were married in), and tried to get their 15-year marriage annulled, a practice that's typically for marriages that last under a year. 

Gawker reports that O'Reilly has appealed the judge's decision, but neither he nor McPhilmy responded to the news source's request for comment. 

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