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Cape Town – On Tuesday, 16 July, Laura Fleiss filed a report against husband and Bachelor creator, Mike Fleiss, alleging he physically, verbally and emotionally abused her.
According to the former Miss America winner, he became "enraged" after finding out she was pregnant with their second child and demanded she gets an abortion.
Laura has been granted a temporary restraining order against Mike, preventing him from contacting her and ordering him to stay at least 100 yards away from her and their son Benjamin at all times.
According to the report obtained by E! News, the reality TV producer told her he didn't want to have another child and said that if she didn't get an abortion, he would cut her off financially or force her to return to her hometown without her son. The following day he allegedly forced her to call her mom and told her Laura would be getting an abortion.
On 6 July, Laura alleges that when things escalated, Mike became aggressive.
She says, Mike snatched her cell phone from her before he "grabbed my body, forcibly pinned me up against the wall and held me there". He pushed her out of the way, stormed out of the house with her cellphone and threatened to punch her face in. Laura claims he then started his pick-up truck and backed it up while she was standing on the running board. He stopped "suddenly" and "forcefully", she says, and pushed her off the running board before driving away. A neighbour came to her aid, driving her and her 4-year-old son, Benjamin to a friend's house.
"I am afraid of Mike. I am afraid he will continue to act erratically towards me, verbally and physically, and in the presence of Ben. I have been hiding in a hotel for the past several days with Ben, and want to be able to return home without fear for myself, my son and my unborn child," the expectant mom says in her declaration.
In addition to the incident on 6 July, Laura also accused Mike of verbal abuse, calling her "fat", "lazy" and "incapable", continually trying to "demonstrate his financial coercive control" with "emotionally derogatory and demeaning comments".
According to her declaration, he often threatened her with divorce as well, recently if she didn't get an abortion as well as on their wedding anniversary in 2018 after finding out she'd seen flirtatious messages between him and another woman. Laura says Mike "went ballistic".
On 10 July, Mike filed for divorce and, following Laura's statement, filed a responsive declaration denying all abuse claims, saying of the incident of 6 July, Laura was, in fact, the aggressor.
According to Mike, the couple had been in counselling since the beginning of the year, and while he admits Laura wanted to have a baby, he didn't because he felt Laura was unable to care for their first son properly. Further, Laura assured Mike she was on birth control to ensure they wouldn't conceive a second child and later admitted she lied to fall pregnant despite his reservations.
On 6 July he says he asked to see her phone thinking that she may have been having an affair. He took it when she wouldn't give it to him; she then proceeded to attack him. He claims, trying to get her phone back, she punched him with her fists, and as he ran down the stairs "the side of my head was slammed against the wall".
He says when he reached his vehicle, he "very slowly" pulled away hoping she would leave the truck. She eventually did and he drove away.
According to Mike, he returned the next day to meet with Laura, their son and a friend back home, but hasn't heard from her since.
"I am very concerned about Ben's safety and Laura's emotional state," he said, adding that he does not know where his son is now.
Mike's attorneys have urged the court to revoke Laura's restraining order, which is in effect until the end of their court hearing on 6 August, and grants him primary custody of their son instead.
