90 DAY FIANCE Karine accuses Paul of rape in restraining order upheld by KY Court of Appeals

The Kentucky Court of Appeals has upheld a restraining order taken out against 90 Day Fiance: Before the 90 Days star Paul Staehle by his wife, Karine Martins Staehle. The decision of the appeals court was made public, and it includes some of the very disturbing allegations made by Karine against Paul.

The decision includes a timeline of the recent legal filings between the troubled couple. While in the process of getting a divorce, Karine filed a petition for emergency protection against Paul on December 30, 2021. In response, Paul filed two petitions for emergency protection against Karine.

From the appeal ruling:

In support of [Karine’s] petition, she alleged that Appellant forced her to have sexual intercourse without her consent multiple times, video recorded these encounters, and posted them online. She also claimed that Appellant engaged in other abusive behaviors including threatening to sell her into prostitution and threatening to have her deported. According to the record, [Karine] came to America to take part in the “90 Day Fiancé” television show or one of its spin-offs, on which both parties appeared.

At the hearing for the initial petition motions on January 18, Karine affirmed her allegations and added to them. She claimed Paul penetrated her with a plastic pen!s without her permission “and continued to do so despite her crying and asking him to stop. She claimed that Appellant gave her alcohol and pills to facilitate his abuse.”

Paul “flatly denied” Karine’s claims of sexual and emotional abuse at the hearing, but his reasoning was questionable. Paul “noted that the parties’ residence was equipped with cameras and lighting equipment for the television show, and that much of what they did was acting or drama for the cameras.”

The circuit court rendered a domestic violence order in which the court found by a preponderance of the evidence that [Paul] committed acts of domestic violence and abuse against [Karine] and that such acts may occur again. The court made handwritten findings on the order and determined that Appellee’s claims were credible. The order prohibited Appellant from contacting Appellee for a period of three years and placed other restrictions on him including barring, him from owning a firearm.

Paul appealed the Circuit Court’s decision, and the Kentucky Court of Appeals rendered a judgment on August 26. “[Paul] argues that the circuit court erroneously determined that he committed acts of domestic violence against [Karine] and improperly found that she is at risk of future acts of domestic violence,” reads the ruling. “After careful review, we find no error and affirm the order on appeal.”

Here is the full Conclusion from the ruling:

The circuit court found [Karine]’s claims of sexual abuse to be credible, i.e., more likely than not to be true. Gibson, supra. The finding of domestic violence is supported by the record and the law, and is sufficient to sustain the DVO. Accordingly, we find no error, and affirm the order of the Jefferson Circuit Court.

Paul and Karine Recent News

At some point early this year, Karine was charged with domestic assault. She had a hearing in April, but I do not know the result of the hearing. Kentucky court case information is a bit difficult to access, and the case number doesn’t appear to be active any more.

Paul and Karine later lost custody of their two children. Paul took their older son Pierre on June 8 and left the state. Pierre was reported missing weeks later, which made numerous headlines. Paul would eventually arrange a hand off with his mother, and soon Pierre joined his younger brother Ethan in the custody of Child Protective Services.

Two days prior to Paul leaving with Pierre, videos recorded by Karine were posted online — one shows a bite mark on Karine’s arm allegedly caused by Paul, and another shows Pierre bawling while apparently shut in a tiny room.

Paul later admitted in a live interview that he did bite Karine’s arm. He says that he was driving and Karine “grabbed the steering wheel and at that point I bit her arm.” He says that she was trying to steer the vehicle into oncoming traffic. He then let her out of the car and she walked home. That was the last time Paul saw Karine in person.

After handing off Pierre, Paul remained off the radar. He wound up on the west coast before leaving the country and returning to Brazil. Paul is currently in Brazil, as evidenced by his numerous Instagram posts. We have received tips that Paul has active warrants out for his arrest in Kentucky, but we have not been able to confirm that. (Getting information on warrants in Kentucky is more more difficult than getting information on court cases.) If that is the case, then I would guess returning to the US might be an issue for him.

Karine continues to post on social media, but she does not mention Paul. I believe they are both restricted from talking about each other as part of their custody issues with CPS.

Asa Hawks is a writer and editor for Starcasm. You can contact Asa via Twitter, Facebook, or email at starcasmtips(at)yahoo.com