Trail Blazers’ Trevor Ariza denies allegations of abusing 12-year-old son

LOS ANGELES (AP) – A Los Angeles judge issued a temporary restraining order keeping Portland Trail Blazers’ Trevor Ariza away from his 12-year-old son after the boy’s mother claimed Ariza had physically abused him.

Ariza has firmly denied the allegations of abuse, saying the boy’s mother, his ex-girlfriend Lana Allen, had engaged in a long campaign to damage his relationship with her son and take away his visiting rights, according to documents from the court obtained by the Associated Press Wednesday. .

Allen claims in documents filed Aug. 27 that Ariza punched her son in the arm and shoulder and put him in a suffocating grip on July 25 during a month-long visit to Ariza’s Los Angeles area home.

Court records state that Ariza committed similar abuses on previous visits and violated a court order against the use of corporal punishment. Allen sent police to Ariza’s home during the visit, but their investigation was inconclusive, the documents say.

The filing called Ariza’s actions “unforgivable; a parent should never punch and choke their child for any reason. “

The restraining order is in effect until the October 1 hearing on the matter. A subsequent custody trial is also planned for the boy.

Court documents include a statement from the 12-year-old who claims he is afraid of his father and does not want to see him, and a photo of a bruised shoulder. Ariza’s response states that the boy’s mother manipulated him into making such statements and tried to stop him from testifying in a neutral setting.

Ariza’s lawyer said Allen filed and withdrew a previous request for a restraining order to take the boy back to North Carolina, where she moved with him in 2018. Ariza says that move violated their custody agreement. .

Ariza claims Allen has repeatedly attempted to deny him statutory visits and used the judicial process to keep his son away from him.

Documents claim that Ariza has been “denied the ability to silence these allegations and prove that what is happening here is actually the abuse of her youngest son’s mother by her relentless, cruel … alienation campaign and attempts. selfishly guided to interfere in father and son. relationship. “

Ariza, 35, who is playing with his ninth team in his 15th NBA season, said in the papers he chose not to play in the NBA bubble with the Trail Blazers, who acquired him from the Sacramento Kings in January, so that she could visit her son, whom she hadn’t seen since December.

Ariza previously told ESPN that “when there were options put on the table, and one of them was spending some time with my son, I chose my family … my job is to be a father before any. else”.

Ariza also has two younger children with his current wife.