Billy Bob Accused of Invading Space

Actor's former sister-in-law accuses him of bugging her home and other harassment

By Natalie Finn, Claudia Rosenbaum May 21, 2008 11:00 PMTags
Billy Bob ThorntonJamie McCarthy/WireImage.com

Billy Bob Thornton was never the poster boy for normalcy, but is he a model creep?

The Oscar-nominated actor's former sister-in-law has filed a police report alleging Thornton's been harassing her for the past two years and, to her belief, has bugged her home so he can eavesdrop on her conversations.

Elysabeth Cherniak, sister of Thornton's fourth wife, Pietra Cherniak, claims she originally thought the Bad Santa star was putting the moves on her, but then his frequent emails became "more insulting."

"First he said that he wanted to be with me and take care of him, but I wanted to stay away, because he gave me the creeps," Cherniak told E! News Wednesday.

"He definitely had designs on me. I didn’t do anything for a long time, because I didn’t know what my rights were, but it was very scary."

Cherniak, who runs a website through which she provides psychic consultations, said she did an online reading for Thornton in 2006, knowing it was him even though she didn't see his face, because he flashed certain tattooed parts of his body.

After that, she claims, she had multiple conversations with her mother in her home and, upon returning to her computer, would find emails transcribing their talks word for word.

“I know it was Billy Bob,” Cherniak said. "At first I thought he knew all this because he was psychic.”

But apparently she figured hacking was a more likely option, opting to file a report May 5 at the West Los Angeles Police Department.

“The police told me they are investigating, but obviously there is no concrete evidence,” she said. "I feel when something happens you have to take a stand.”

Meanwhile, Thornton's rep has deemed these allegations "absolutely false," especially considering he never uses email and "anyone who knows him would know that."

Cherniak has "a history of making these very same allegations in the past," the rep added.

Pre-Angelina, Thornton was married to Pietra for four years. They divorced in 1997 after having two children together.

Thornton and Jolie famously swapped vows (and vials of blood) in 2000 before crashing and burning three years later.