Former Congresswoman Katie Hill has been unable to reach a settlement with her ex-husband, Kenny Heslep, over a restraining order she is seeking to ban him from revealing photos and confidential information about her, a Los Angeles court heard Tuesday.
Now the case will go to trial.
The court action has been postponed several times while Hill has been trying to reach an agreement with Heslep, whom she’s accused of years of violent and sexual abuse. Heslep has denied those claims.
But at Los Angeles Superior Court Tuesday, March 2, 2021, after hearing from attorneys for both that there’s still no settlement, Judge Anne Richardson scheduled another hearing Wednesday to set a date for a full trial.
Hill’s attorney, Jennifer Morra, told the court that the trial would take about four days and she would call ‘four or five’ witnesses, in addition to Hill. Heslep’s lawyer, Erin McKinley, said she would have three witnesses, plus her client.
Although Judge Richardson Hill’s request for a restraining order that would have prevented Heslep from sharing intimate pictures and disclosures about his ex, she did continue a restraining order she made in December, forcing Heslep to stay 100 yards away from Hill, her mother, and sister, and her pets.
Hill, 33, – who resigned from Congress last year after nude photos emerged of her with a female campaign staffer she and Heslep had a ‘throuple’ sexual relationship with – claimed in her restraining order application that her former husband has her living in fear for her life.
‘I have been subject to Kenny’s physical, sexual, verbal, emotional and psychological abuse for more than 15 years including, but not limited to, the many times Kenny has threatened me with guns, killed and hurt my pets in front of me, choked me until I lost consciousness and publicly released sexually explicit photos of me, solely for the purpose of destroying my life and career in Congress after I had gathered the courage to leave him,’ she said in a written declaration to the court.
‘While I considered filing a restraining order many times over the years, I was always afraid doing so would simply make matters worse.
‘At this point, I am finally seeking a restraining order because I am afraid that he will not give up until I am dead.’
Heslep, 37, has been fighting his ex-wife’s restraining order request, vehemently denying her claims in a written declaration to the court.
‘There has never been any abuse or domestic violence in our relationship…….The allegations are false,’ he insisted. He denied leaking sexy pictures of Hill. And also claimed that there has been ‘virtually no contact’ between him and Hill for about 16 months.
Hill – who met Heslep when she was only 16 and he 20 – said that she had hoped the ‘frightening obsession’ he has with her would stop when their divorce became final in September last year. But it didn’t stop, she added.
‘Kenny’s continued attempts to publicly humiliate, intimidate and harass me have made it clear to me that Kenny’s unhealthy and that his dangerous fixation on me continues, even though our divorce is final.
‘I am terrified that Kenny will try to make good on the many threats he made during our relationship that I could never leave him ‘or who knows what will happen’ because ‘neither of us could live without the other.
‘I fear for my safety, the safety of my mother and sister, and the safety of my animals. Every single day I live in terror that Kenny will finally take his obsession with controlling me beyond vicious interviews with newspapers to actually showing up on my doorstep, or one of my family members’ doorsteps, with one of his guns.
‘I am exhausted by living in fear and even though I still worry that filing for a domestic violence restraining order will set Kenny off, I truly believe it is the only tool I have left to protect myself.’
The openly bisexual former legislator – who had served less than a year in Congress when she stepped down in the wake of the ‘throuple’ sex scandal involving the 24-year-old female staffer – told a harrowing tale of Heslep’s physical and sexual abuse.
‘Kenny would grab my buttocks, crotch, and/or breasts hard, without permission, often in public or in front of other people, ‘ she said. ‘I was often left feeling humiliated, small and ashamed….
‘Kenny began insisting on trying to bring other people into our sex life, exploiting my bisexuality and using that as the reason why we needed to bring other women into our relationship, even if I agreed. Kenny equated my attraction to women with a desire to have threesomes with him and other women…….’
Hill said that ‘the more successful I became, the angrier, more volatile and more abusive Kenny became. On multiple occasions, Kenny backed me into walls when he was angry, pinning me against them and shouting in my face.
‘Kenny started choking me during sex, ignoring my attempts to stop him and not letting go until after I passed out or he finished, whether I was conscious or not. On more than one occasion, I was afraid Kenny was going to kill me.’
In her declaration, Hill also complained that Heslep’s anger and aggression weren’t just directed at her but also at her, pets – including a cat, goat, and horse.
She said that on one occasion, Heslep allowed his two husky dogs to attack and kill her cat Bones. And on another, the huskies mauled her pet goat Daisy so badly that he shot the animal to put it out of its misery.
Hill also claimed that Heslep is ‘obsessed’ with guns and owns ‘more than a dozen.’ As part of the restraining order, Judge Richardson ordered Heslep to turn in all his firearms to the police or a licensed gun dealer.
In his eight-page declaration opposing Hill’s restraining order against him, Heslep told the court, ‘Ms. Hill alleges that our polyamory (loving more than one person) and involvement with third parties was a form of abuse.
‘However, during our marriage, Ms. Hill made it clear that she was not interested in monogamy as she was extremely interested in women.
‘Her bisexuality was part of the platform on which she ran for public office. Ms. Hill wanted to remain married but explore her desire for women.
‘Shortly after we were married, she began looking for another woman to bring into our marriage. We found our then-girlfriend using a variety of online websites geared toward that purpose. Ms. Hill featured herself prominently on these website advertisements/profiles.’
Heslep lashed out at Hill’s abuse claims. ‘I never choked Ms. Hill or put my hands on her during sex or at any other time,’ he declared. ‘I have never engaged in anything that could be construed as choking behavior.
‘I have never even in a playful way made a gesture or done anything that could be construed in this manner. I have no interest in this kind of sex play or violence…….I am not a violent or angry person.’
Of Hill’s contention that Heslep is ‘obsessed’ with guns, he said, ‘In multiple interviews, while campaigning, she (Hill) talks about owning guns. She ran on a platform of having guns yet also encouraging gun safety.
‘Many of the guns in our home belonged to Ms. Hill, others were guns from family members. None of the guns in our home were mine. I never pointed the guns at her or at any other human being or animal for fun or to threaten.’
Heslep dismissed Hill’s ‘fears’ for the safety of her mother and sister, as well as herself, saying, ‘In the last two or three years, I do not recall any contact with her mother or sister…….I have never had any conflict with her family members.’
While Heslep did admit shooting their pet goat to put it out of its misery, he added, ‘The idea that I directed my animals to kill other animals is absurd. Ms. Hill and I acquired the two huskies together. I certainly did not want our huskies to attack…..Ms. Hill’s goats. I was not at home when one of the huskies killed our cat.’
As for Hill’s claim that he released sexy photos of her, Heslep said, ‘Ms. Hill alleges that I am responsible for leaking photos of her and ruining her career.
‘I am a private person…I only appear in one interview to defend myself several months ago after Ms. Hill’s book came out making outlandish accusations against me. After over a year and a half of declining interviews, I was fed up.’
In that interview with DailyMail.com, Heslep described a tangled web of trysts and alleged that Hill had an insatiable sexual appetite which led her to cheat on him multiple times and smoked copious amounts of marijuana.
He also claimed Hill used campaign dollars to fund their ‘sex-cations’ with a staffer in early 2018 and says she falsely claimed their baggage expenses and flights to her campaign costs.
In his statement Heslep said, ‘I did not knowingly disseminate any private or sexually explicit photographs of Ms. Hill, nor would I. In response to an investigation regarding the same, I voluntarily turned over my computer and many other files requested by the investigating agency.
‘A year has passed and I have not been prosecuted or even contacted. I have been fully co-operative and have not even hired an attorney with respect to the matter as I have done nothing wrong.’
