Disney Channel star Matt Prokop’s ex-girlfriend has broken her silence after the news of his shocking child pornography charge came to light.
The 35-year-old actor, who is known for starring in Disney projects such as Geek Charming and High School Musical 3: Senior Year, was arrested on Christmas Eve in Texas.
Prokop is being held without bail at a jail in Victoria County. He was initially booked for violating his bond conditions from a previous set of charges filed in 2024, as well as evading and resisting arrest.
But an additional charge for ‘possession or promotion of child pornography’ was tacked on after a warrant was signed on December 31.
Now, Prokop’s ex-girlfriend has detailed the alleged years of abuse she suffered during their relationship, as the actor faces the new set of charges.
Disney Channel star Matt Prokop’s ex-girlfriend has broken her silence after the news of his shock child pornography charge came to light. Prokop seen in 2013 in West Hollywood
Prokop is currently being held without bail at a jail in Victoria County – and was initially booked for violating his bond conditions, as well as evading and resisting arrest
His former partner told the Daily Mail: ‘After many years of abuse, the effects are still very real and continue to impact my life.
‘Right now, I’m taking time to heal privately, with the support of close friends and family.
‘Taking this time does not lessen the seriousness or harm of his actions.
‘As more information comes out, I ask that all victims be treated with care, dignity, and respect.’
Prokop’s ex met him on social media at a young age, but their romantic relationship didn’t begin until she was an adult. The pair became engaged in January 2024.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Prokop’s representatives for comment regarding the allegations.
Prokop was previously arrested in Texas, where he is from, in May 2024 after allegedly assaulting his girlfriend.
According to Victoria Police Department at the time, the pair was on a weekend outing when Prokop’s girlfriend allegedly told someone he assaulted her.
Officers responded to a disturbance in another area about an hour later, where they found Prokop and his girlfriend.
The woman sustained enough injuries to warrant an arrest, as the investigation found that Prokop allegedly pushed her and slammed her head into something.
Prokop reportedly tried to pull away from officers and run as they arrested him.
Prior to that incident, his ex-girlfriend and former Disney co-star Sarah Hyland, now 35, filed a restraining order against him.
‘After many years of abuse, the effects are still very real and continue to impact my life. Right now, I’m taking time to heal privately, with the support of close friends and family,’ his ex alleged to the Daily Mail. Prokop is seen in 2010
Prokop was previously arrested in Texas, where he’s from, in May 2024 after allegedly assaulting his girlfriend
The actors dated from 2008 to 2014, after meeting at an audition for High School Musical 3: Senior Year, in which he played Jimmie.
He appeared in a 2012 episode of Modern Family with the actress, as well as the movies Geek Charming (2011), Struck by Lightning (2012) and April Apocalypse (2013).
Prokop was also credited as a producer on her 2015 movie See You In Valhalla.
Hyland claimed that Prokop was verbally and physically abusive for four years of their relationship, until her Modern Family onscreen mother Julie Bowen stepped in and helped her end things.
In her legal filing she recounted an incident in which Prokop allegedly pinned her against a car and choked her.
‘His grip was so tight that I could not breathe or speak,’ Hyland said in the court documents. ‘I was scared and in fear for my life.’
After Prokop entered rehab in August 2014, someone from the institution called to warn her of his mental state when he was released, recommending she get a restraining order.
Hyland was granted a temporary restraining order that September, which became permanent a month later and required him to stay at least 300 feet away from her and her dog.
Prokop’s representatives did not respond to Daily Mail’s or other outlets’ requests for comment at the time about Hyland’s allegations.
The actors dated from 2008 to 2014, after meeting at an audition for High School Musical 3: Senior Year, in which he played Jimmie; seen above (middle) in High School Musical 3: Senior Year (2008)
Hyland claimed that Prokop was verbally and physically abusive for four years of their relationship, until her Modern Family onscreen mother Julie Bowen stepped in and helped her end things; seen in 2014 in London
Back in October 2024, the actress said that she is still ‘triggered’ by a past abusive relationship.
She talked about her experience as a domestic violence survivor during an interview with Variety.
Hyland expressed that it is ‘really important’ to openly have conversations about domestic violence and talked about long-lasting PTSD survivors can have.
However, the Modern Family alum did not name the boyfriend who hit her at the time.
‘[It stays] in that abused place of your soul, where you think it’s your fault the whole time and you could have done better, you could have gotten out sooner, you could have told people.’
The actress added that eventually, ‘you don’t wanna talk about it anymore. You want it to be done, and that’s that.
‘I completely understand the dissociation pattern of it. I am very much guilty about it myself…until something happens where I’m triggered, and I didn’t realize that part of myself had been healed.’
Hyland then admitted, ‘I don’t know if that part [of] any woman will ever be fully healed from that.
Back in October 2024, the actress said that she is still ‘triggered’ by a past abusive relationship; Hyland seen in 2024 in L.A.
‘It’s something that kind of scars her soul a little bit. It’s more so putting love towards that scar instead of hating it and ignoring it.’
Hyland also said of domestic violence that, ‘For thousands of years now, we didn’t talk about it. The community hasn’t shared enough, I believe.
‘And I feel that if we talk about it more, more women – and men and just human beings in general in abusive relationships – will feel more comfortable to be able to talk about it with their loved ones…
‘Instead of letting their abuser isolate them from everyone, which is the first thing that they do, so that you don’t have that community.’
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