“That behavior is appalling. And it’s appalling that anyone can think it is acceptable behavior,” Peskowitz told The Palm Beach Post Wednesday. “And Dr. Phil? Shame on him.”
Can he really have an opinion on her behavior if he was absent during her growth?
The 49 year old deputy sheriff is a USPTA tennis pro and adjunct professor who teaches tennis to “at-risk youth”. He spoke to the The Palm Beach Post, whom documented his rocky relationship with Danielle’s mother Barbara Ann Bregoli. Barbara Ann pretty much raised Danielle on her own while her married baby’s father tended to his wife and two sons.
“Danielle feels rejected by me. That poor girl. I did not abandon her. I left her mother, but I did not abandon her,” says Peskowitz. “I know there is a little girl in there and I hope one day she can hug me and say, ‘I love you, daddy.’”
“She is still young. Danielle needs to be allowed to be a normal, healthy 13-year-old girl. Danielle needs to get treatment, needs to get a good education, get involved in physical activity,” Peskowitz said.
Danielle spoke about her absentee father during her first appearance on the Dr. Phil Show, saying she didn’t remember the last time she’d seen him:
Here’s an excerpt of the Sept. 2016 episode of Dr. Phil McGraw’s show featuring Boynton Beach mother and daughter Barbara and Danielle Bregoli:
Dr. Phil: Where’s your father in all this?
Danielle: I don’t know.
Dr. Phil: Do you know him?
Danielle(hesitates): Yeah.
Dr. Phil: When was the last time you saw him?
Danielle: I don’t remember.
Dr. Phil: Does he have another family?
(The camera catches Danielle’s mother, Barbara Bregoli, as she dabs her eyes. Danielle nods.)
Dr. Phil: Did you ask to meet that family?
Danielle: I don’t even need to. I don’t want to and I don’t need to.
(Another shot of Bregoli as she dabs her eyes.)
Dr. Phil: Have you been hurt along the way? Has somebody in your life hurt you?
Danielle: (shakes her head “No”)
Barbara Ann was once featured in The Palm Beach Post back in 2009, in a Mother’s Day feature, bragging about how a 6 year old Danielle helped nurse her back to health after Barbara Ann was diagnosed with cancer twice. Barbara Ann and Ira Peskowitz were already separated and going through a custody battle over Danielle when she was only 18 months old.
See more on the NEXT PAGE.