'Teen Mom' Star Amber Portwood Charged in Assault Against Former Fiance

By Sarah Crow Posted Nov 18th 2010 12:45PM

Talk about baby mama drama!

'Teen Mom' star Amber Portwood has been slapped with a misdemeanor and two felony charges related to three assaults on former fiance Gary Shirley, Hollywood Life reports.

Portwood's home state of Indiana considers domestic abuse in the presence of a child felonious assault, which was the case in two of Portwood's outbursts toward Shirley. The third attack occurred while the couple's baby, Leah, was elsewhere. There has been speculation that misdemeanor charges may be brought against the MTV camera crew who filmed the assault and failed to intervene, as Indiana law requires witnesses to domestic or child abuse to report the crime.

Portwood's abuse against Shirley, which occurred on July 14th, 18th, and August 14th of this year, was captured on film by MTV camera crews, although one of the incidents was never aired.

Amber, 20, who recorded a domestic violence PSA that aired on MTV following footage of the assaults, could serve up to three years in jail and pay $10,000 in fines if convicted.

Despite her on-camera compunction, Portwood has been vilified in her hometown paper, The Herald Bulletin, who had the following to say of the star: "'Teen Mom' is not the national image Anderson wants. The next time you see our teen mom in the store, point out that she is hurting this city. We don't push our loved ones down stairs. We don't take pride that our teenage girls are 16 and pregnant. We don't all drop out of high school."

Portwood, who expressed her regret over the assaults to Dr. Drew Pinsky on the 'Teen Mom' reunion show, alleged that she "blacked out" during the attack in which she punched Shirley multiple times, claiming to only remember striking him once.

MTV issued a statement regarding their involvement in the fight, saying "Our role in 'Teen Mom' is to document how incredibly challenging and difficult being a teen parent is. In this particular instance, we monitored the situation to make sure no one was in imminent danger."

The Madison County Prosecutor's office has subpoenaed MTV for all of their unedited 'Teen Mom' footage for evidence.

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Tags: 16 and pregnant, Amber Portwood, teen mom

Comments

(225)

Friday 19 November

By Nicole

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You lost all of your credibility in your last line. I'm so sorry that you've raised two potential woman beaters. The bottom line is that no one should be putting their hands on anyone else. It's disturbingly trashy.

Saturday 20 November

By george

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jolly, clearly you missed the entire point of this show! They are not teaching kids to have kids. The point is to show kids the reality of teenage parents lives! It's not this fun easy going life. It's hard, very hard! It also shows that teens think they are sooo much in love. How kids believe that their love is all they need. kids never listen to parents or adults in general, they seem to think that their boyfriend is going to always be there for them no matter what! But this show has thankfully showed the reality of these situtations! 99% of these couples will split up either before (or very shortly after) the baby is born. Leaving 1 very scared, lonely child trying to raise another very scared, lonely child. Usally there is alot of abuse in these teenage relationships but the children are either too scared or confused to report it. This show wants them to know they are not alone in it, so report it, there is help out there. And yes alot of young kids do watch this show and alot of them have changed their minds about having kids because of the show!

By yohan

You are so wrong in raising your boys to hit women. Men should never hit a woman. If a man can't protect himself from a woman or get away from her then he should not be with the abusive woman in the first place. Your boys are, or will be, abusive. You sound pretty violent yourself. I have 2 sons and 1 daughter and NEVER taught my sons to hit a woman.

By keira10103

I think you must have been a teen mom, who gave up on education, or a high school drop out for whatever stupid reason. Your English is poor and your way of raising kids is terrible. You should shot up and pick up a book once in a while. How are your children doing? Long police record? Are you proud?

Thursday 18 November

By andra

Lowest Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

who getting her child if she go to jail.her ex or her preants.

By Kristina

I dont see any reason why Gary shouldnt get her. Hes a really good dad. But who knows.. the system for that type of thing is so screwed up. I hope the charges go through though! She treats him like crap. No one should have to experience that!

By WTF?

Andra, clearly you have a stellar grip on the English language. Perhaps you might consider going back and getting your GED so that you no longer will sound like trailer trash.

By Tom

Of course the ex does he the father her parents made her they should not even be aloud in the same room with that child.Thank you Steven from above

High Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

WTF?, did it ever occur to you that English COULD be Andra's second or third...language? You are not too bright yourself or you just live in your very small world.

By ginger

When I saw it I was surprised He put up with it. He could easily get Full custody of Leah if he wants. I doubt he Wants full custody tho. That girl has serious Impluse Control problems. She was on Dr. Phil and he talked about that with her, I wonder if she Has stopped doing it?

By Sara

I'm on Amber's side. I don't think she should hit Gary, but it really is frusterating how dumb and lazy he is, not to mention the crappy threats he pulls on her and not showing up to pick up Leah. He does no parenting at ALL. His parents are the ones making sure Leah has things; he literally has no job and discouraged Amber from getting her GED or going back to school!! He was just worried she would leave him behind.
Amber NEVER go back to this lame loser. This is why you shouldn't have sex in high school, kids.

By curly

seriously amber is lazier than him. for most of the season gary was the only one with a job. amber quit her part time job as soon as gary got his. not to mention every shot of her this season was her laying around her apartment not paying attention to leah at all.

By Brian Brain

There is no real side to pick here! If you want to pick a side, the only logical choice should be the child Leah. She is the TRUE victim, not Gary. I don't watch this show but I've followed the story. Amber and Gary and absolute morons! Neither of them are fit to be parents and they don't deserve to keep their child. If as a society we're lucky, neither of them will reproduce again!

By Heidi

I agree with what you are saying all the way.

By Megan

You are on the side of an abusive witch who moved in a convict, beat her ex, tried to kick him down the stairs, put her child in a crib with NO SHEETS and shut the door just because she wanted to take a nap and Leah didn't. She spent almost the whole season laying on the bed like she was dying, witching at anyone and everyone who came around, yelled at her daughter, told Gary he needed to discipline her even though she wasn't doing anything. At least Gary was trying and he NEVER hit back. Had it been me standing at the top of those steps while she was beating on me, I would have pushed her down those steps faster than you can say "Boo". She's not sorry she did it, she's sorry she got caught and called out on it. Lazy child she is.
I pray that Leah ends up in a home with loving people who show her that fighting, hitting, screaming, and being lazy are NOT the way to live. That little girl is so beautiful. Gary isn't perfect either, but at least he hasn't hit Amber or Leah and has MUCH more patience and level head. He knew enough when he was being beat on to get the baby out of there and keep her away.
And you are on AMBER's SIDE? What episodes were YOU watching?!?

By justcuriousnu

She already lost custody .. there was an article a few days ago stating that the child was taken into state custody due to this incident. She is a nightmare - she was just photographed drinking and taking pills after the child was taken - she thinks she is living large .. total trash - she should be sterilized so she doesnt have any more kids

By CrysWA83

Everytime I had watched a eppisode with her throwing one of her fits and making herself look like a fool infront of all the veiwers I had wondered why no one had called the cops. I am glad someone stepped up and is taking care of it. I hope she gets what she deserves. That boy put up with everything she did to him and never laid a hand on her.

By JJ

I'm sorry to say but Amber deserves jail time. I hope she never sees her daughter again.

By Lisa

I think it is sad what is going on with this family. I am so happy that something is finally being done about this. Amber needs a lot of help and so does Gary. No one should ever put their hands on another person NO MATTER WHAT! What I saw on MTV was shocking and it made me sick, but this goes on everyday and it never gets reported, I am just grateful that because of the show Leah has a chance at a normal life with people who love her and can show her how to love. I just hope that Amber learns from this and is held accountable for what she has done. I hope that a judge gets her the help she needs, but if she does not think that she has a problem then the cycle will continue, I hope that Leah is placed in a loving home or that Gary gets his act together and raises his daughter, because we all know that Amber can't without getting help. I'll be praying for the baby.

Tuesday 07 December

By Republican

Lisa - stop being trashy and get off Welfare . We're tired of supporting bums like you who came from trashy mothers

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