"Love Island" contestant Cashel Barnett is accused of assaulting his ex in front of their child and was being held without bail in a Utah jail Monday.
The district attorney in Salt Lake County filed charges against Barnett, 34, on May 12 that include felony aggravated assault, felony domestic violence in the presence of a child and two counts of misdemeanor assault.
A lawyer for Barnett said Barnett turned himself in Monday morning and is awaiting a bail hearing scheduled for Thursday.
"We are obviously in the very early stages here and won't have any comment until after that hearing," Andrew K. Deesing said by email.
Salt Lake City police said the mother of the pair's 1-year-old child reported an incident, which she said happened April 10, on April 24.
She told police that when she tried to calm Barnett during an argument in front of the child, he slapped her arms and picked her up by her neck using both hands before he slammed her onto a bed, the police report says.
The report alleges that Barnett allegedly throttled the woman with "continuous pressure" and that the woman "was unable to breathe and her vision went blurry."
"Barnett then slapped [the woman] in the face and said, 'You’re fine,'" the police report says.
The woman told police she experienced "difficulty breathing, a raspy voice, coughing, trouble swallowing, neck pain, nausea, vomiting, agitation, amnesia, memory loss, visual changes, and headache," according to the police report.
It does not mention whether she sought medical attention.
The warrant request warns that the woman is at high risk for homicide and says she told authorities that Barnett had previously threatened to kill her, the report says.
Court records confirm he was not in custody for days following approval of the May 12 warrant request.
Barnett, who is based in Salt Lake City-based, appeared on the first season of "Love Island" in 2019. According to his social media accounts and websites, he now plays the drums in multiple bands, works as a model and sells custom birthday and greetings videos for prices that start at $25.
