Three of Francesco Aquilini's children, all of whom are now adults, have levelled "serious" allegations that he abused them when they were younger, a lawyer for the Vancouver Canucks chairman and governor's former wife told a judge Tuesday.
The allegations were made in the context of an application by Taliah Aquilini, who divorced her husband in 2013, to have the three children, all of whom she says are attending university ful-time, continue to be declared to be children of the marriage for the purpose of child support payments.
Claire Hunter, a lavwyer for Tali'ah Aquilini, told B.C. Supreme Court Justice Karen Douglas that the children no longer wish to have any contact with their father and felt "fear and anxiety" about the possibility of him contacting them.
She said that Francesco Aquilini had provided child support up until September 2021, but then stopped payments.
The parties were having a dispute over information about the children's university education being withheld from him. For example, the names of their universities have not been disclosed since 2018, said Hunter.
The children described abuse and inappropriate conduct by their dad, including alleged incidents of physical and psychological abuse, court heard.
In one incident, Aquilini allegedly beat one of his sleeping children and continued the beating after the child woke up.
One of his kids claimed to have seen him throw a five-year-old child across a room. A third allegation had him punching a child in the stomach, causing the child to cry.