Paula Patton requested a restraining order against Robin Thicke in order to "protect their son".

Paula Patton

Paula Patton

The 39-year-old singer must stay at least 100 yards away from the 'Warcraft' actress - whom he divorced in 2015 - their six-year-old son Julian, and Paula's mother Joyce Patton, after Paula, 41, claimed he had punched and kicked her during their marriage and recently stood outside her mom's house for two hours demanding to see the youngster.

A source told PEOPLE: "Paula very much wanted to keep this within the family, as she believes that was in Julian's best interest. However, she has to fight back to protect her son. As a mother, it's one thing to stay quiet if you're the victim of abuse, but once that extends to your child, you have to speak up."

Larry Bakman, Paula's attorney, wrote in the request for the restraining order: "[Patton] is in reasonable apprehension of imminent serious bodily injury to herself and the child."

And in documents obtained by the publication, Paula accused her former husband of "physical and emotional abuse, infidelity and drug and alcohol addiction".

The paperwork recalled one incident in 2013 when Robin allegedly "became physically violent" with the actress.

Paula stated in the documents: "[I] observed him to have inappropriate contact with the masseuse ... Robin became so enraged that I had interrupted his 'massage' that he broke down the locked door.

"Robin became physically violent with me. He pushed me down and kicked me."

Paula also claims Robin became violent when the pair attended Cannes Film Festival that same year.

She added: "We began fighting. Robin hit me with a closed fist to my upper body and then pushed me onto the ground."

However, Pierce di Donato, the attorney for the 'Blurred Lines' hitmaker, says these claims only surfaced after Paula found herself in "a position of contempt" as she refused to take a drugs test.

He said in a statement: "Paula never reported any domestic violence until she was in a position of contempt by violating the custody orders. DCFS asked both Paula and Robin to drug test. Robin agreed and submitted to his test, but Paula refused to test. Infidelity has nothing to do with custody. She is attempting to throw anything at him to hurt him, but Robin's focus is their son."

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