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Robin Thicke Investigated for Alleged Child Abuse in Custody Battle With Paula Patton Over Son

Robin Thicke is being investigated by the Los Angeles County Department of Child and Family Services amid allegations of child abuse for spanking his son, part of a custody battle with his ex-wife, Paula Patton.

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Their six-year-old son Julian reportedly told school officials that Thicke allegedly spanked him more than once. The school then allegedly reported the incident to the DCFS on January 3 and the department opened an investigation. The DCFS has since interviewed Julian and are scheduled to interview Thicke in the afternoon of Thursday, January 12, according to court documents seen by Us Weekly.

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Patton then reportedly denied Thicke access to Julian and filed an emergency order asking a judge to restrict the Grammy nominee’s time with his son to monitored daytime visits only.

Paula Patton and Robin Thicke
Paula Patton and Robin Thicke attend the 56th annual GRAMMY Awards Pre-GRAMMY Gala and Salute to Industry Icons honoring Lucian Grainge at The Beverly Hilton on January 25, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California. Larry Busacca/Getty Images for NARAS

In court documents obtained by Us Weekly, Thicke denies any wrongdoing and maintains: “On a very rare occasion and only as a last resort, I will use light spanking, but it is consistent with the law — open hand on the butt. This is the type of discipline to which Paula and I agreed during our marriage.”

Thicke claims in the document that Patton’s decision to get the court involved stems from her not being invited to his famous father Alan Thicke’s funeral last month. 

“It is my belief that Paula holds residual anger towards me because I and my family would not permit her or her family to attend the funeral of my father on December 20, 2016,” he alleges in the papers. “Paula did not have a positive relationship with my father … As such, she was not welcome at his funeral. It is my belief that Paula only wanted to attend because it would have resulted in additional public exposure for her.”

A source close to the situation tells Us Weekly that a “judge denied everything in [Patton’s] complaint” and that “Child Protective Services didn’t see any evidence of wrongdoing.”

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Us Weekly has reached out to both Patton and Thicke’s reps for comment.

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