Lita Ford’s sons didn’t want to be left with her because they feared she’d kill them, according to a sheriff report.
The paperwork was filed after her now ex-husband Jim Gillette was ordered to leave the family home after she’d been granted a domestic violence injunction against him in 2010.
Musician Gillette broke his silence over the acrimonious split last week, responding to her suggestion that sons James and Rocco had been coaxed to attack her and describing them as “brainwashed.”
He’s since been granted full custody of their children.
The double-signed sheriff report, revealed to MetalSludge, says: “I met with James and Rocco Gillette. They both began to cry when their father told them he had to leave. They advised they were afraid of being left in the custody of their mother. The boys stated they were afraid their mother would kill them.
“The boys advised that their mother had been violent toward their dad. The boys advised their dad had never struck them or their mother.
“Mr Gillette left the property without incident. The children were left in the custody of their mother.”
Asked how the custody decision came to be reversed, Gillette tells MetalSludge: “The truth prevailed. This divorce lasted nearly two years – this included psychiatric evaluations of all parties. A plethora of doctors, psychiatrists and other professionals had us all under a microscope. There was no way Lita or I could have deceived them for that long.
“In the end, although all involved were doing their best to help form some semblance of a healthy relationship between our sons and their mother, common sense finally prevailed.
“In short, the correct and necessary decisions were finally made that had the best intentions of our boys at heart.”
He believes his sons will reinforce his position if they finally choose to speak. “James turns 18 in May and is chomping at the bit to tell the world what his mother is really like,” he says.
“The sheriff’s report mentions that James and Rocco said their mother was violent and their father was not. Lita has sworn under oath that I did not hit her.”
He adds: “Lita needs to get on with her life and let the boys and me get on with ours.”
