Inside Barbara Walter’s Domestic Abuse Shocker!
Respected news icon Barbara Walters has been caught up in a brutal and shocking domestic violence case!
An earth-shattering RadarOnline.com investigation reveals that the 87-year-old television crusader’s former son-in-law was arrested for battering a girlfriend in a vicious and drunken rage!
Jacqueline Danforth, Waters’ adopted daughter, married Scott Pontius in 1996 in a quiet, private ceremony in Washington State.
But their troubled marriage self-destructed by 2005.
Danforth went on to suffer terrible struggles with alcohol and a humiliating 2013 DUI bust in Florida. During the disturbing incident, she is said to have physically and verbally abused arresting officers, who were forced to wrestle her to the ground!
Her ex didn’t fare much better.
Just three years after splitting with Danforth, King County Sheriffs busted Pontius in 2005 for assaulting his girlfriend!
The victim (who RadarOnline.com will not name to protect her privacy) said Walter’s wayward former son-in-law was consumed with jealous and one night, was “enraged” at her for talking to friends at a bar.
“He hit her three times and pushed her several times,” causing her “pain and discomfort,” according to the police report exclusively obtained by the RadarOnline.com.
They were driving home from an evening out when Pontius “stopped his truck and told her to get out…she was trying to get him to calm down when Scott got even more upset and hit her in the arm, shoulder/neck and leg,” according to the report.
- 'The Open Mouth': Joy Behar Crudely Jokes Late 'View' Co-host Barbara Walters' Smile Was From Her Adult Film Days
- Ex-ESPN Star Sage Steele Says Barbara Walters Physically Assaulted Her in 2014 Backstage at 'The View'
- Barbara Walters' Manhattan Home Hits The Market For $20 Million Months After Her Death
Cops noted that Pontius was “intoxicated” and even had to “throw up” during his violent outburst!
In her statement the girlfriend shockingly insisted that the horrible abuse was far from an isolated incident. Pontius’s girlfriend claimed there were at least three other incidents she hadn’t reported to police.
She also revealed that Pontius kept firearms in the garage, which he disposed of before his trial.
He was charged with fourth-degree assault and hit with an order of protection for the safety of the woman.
Though Pontius faced a maximum sentence of a year in jail, he walked away with probation, a six-month domestic violence treatment course and eight hours of alcohol and drug abuse classes.
While RadarOnline.com is unable to determine if Pontius had further brushes with the law, “Jacqueline was lucky to get away from this guy,” a source told RadarOnline.com. “She’s had her share of her own problems and he was another one she brought on herself.”
We pay for juicy info! Do you have a story for RadarOnline.com? Email us at tips@radaronline.com, or call us at 800-344-9598 any time, day or night.