Justin Jefferson IS the father of ex-girlfriend’s baby, judge rules

Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson has been established as the father of a baby girl, according to an order issued by a family court judge in New Jersey.

That order, made by Jude Aldo J Russo on June 26 and obtained by DailyMail.com, requires Jefferson and the mother, Andrea Galea, to share joint legal custody of the minor child, who has been the subject of this paternity case.

As DailyMail.com reported in February, Galea accused Jefferson of pressuring her to abort the child after she became pregnant in 2023. Galea refused and gave birth to baby Stella in December, according to her paternity lawsuit. Jefferson’s attorney at that time declined to comment about that accusation to DailyMail.com.

In their counter claims filed in January, both Jefferson and Galea requested paternity testing. Galea also pushed for financial support and healthcare coverage from Jefferson, who has since signed a four-year, $140million deal with the Vikings that includes a reported $100m guaranteed. 

The 25-year-old Louisiana State product is also one of the stars of Netflix’s new NFL reality series, Receiver, which follows five of the league’s top pass catchers.

An attorney for Jefferson declined to comment when contacted by DailyMail.com, while Galea’s representatives did not immediately respond to inquiries.

Judge Russo’s order established a framework for Jefferson’s visitation, required both parents to remain in contact with regards to the child, and even allowed for the All-Pro to have FaceTime conversations with his young daughter as she and her mother made a recent trip to Italy.

The order also denied Jefferson’s request to prevent Galea from taking the daughter on that same trip.

‘For the reasons placed on the record, [Jefferson’s] emergent application for an OTSC [order to show cause] to prevent [Galea] from traveling to Italy with the minor child is denied as the court finds that [Jefferson] has not met the burden of proof to establish immediate and irreparable harm as defined in Crowe v DeGioa, 90 NJ 126 (1982).

’[Galea] may travel to Capri, Italy with the minor child from July 1, 2024 to July 12, 2024,’ the order continued. ‘By June 30, 2024, [Galea] shall provide [Jefferson] a detailed itinerary, including flight information, locations, and telephone numbers where the child and parent may be reached during the trip.’

The order goes on to require civil communications between the parents, who must deal directly with each other rather than speaking through any intermediaries.

‘All communication between the parties shall be in a non-derogatory, non-harassing manner only about the health, education, and well-being of the minor child,’ Russo wrote. ‘A party receiving a communication shall respond to that communication within 6 hours or less.’

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Galea is a University of Miami Law School graduate who previously attended LSU with Jefferson. 

The two became romantically involved in 2019 before drifting apart and reconnecting in April of 2023, according to her paternity lawsuit filed on January 19. It was in April of 2023 that Galea claims Jefferson fathered her daughter.

In his January filing against Galea, Jefferson demanded an injunction preventing her from sharing information about the child on social media.

Although Galea remains active on social media, her Instagram page has not featured a photo of Stella since May 5.

Jefferson’s complaint contained 2023 text messages between himself and Galea as they decided how to handle her pregnancy.

‘So are you okay with getting this [situated],’ Jefferson wrote Galea in one text message included in his filing.

Jefferson also questioned if Galea used Plan B, also known as the morning-after pill, to end the pregnancy.

‘The more u wait the harder the situation will be that’s why I wanted to get you the planB [because] I didn’t want to be in this situation but it’s totally my fault I shouldn’t have done it in the first place,’ he wrote in one text message.

Galea responded: ‘Justin I took the plan b though it was just too late for it to be effective. Sometimes depending on the cycle unless you take it within like 2 hours it can be too late… and two people are always at fault in this. Personally I’ve never faced a situation like this…’

In her filing, Galea claimed Jefferson pushed her for an abortion.

‘Regrettably, thereafter Defendant sought to pressure the Plaintiff into having an abortion,’ the filing read. ‘The Defendant actively encouraged the Plaintiff to terminate the pregnancy, offering to do ‘[w]hatever [the Plaintiff] need[ed] [him] to do.’

‘Upon his realization that he could not persuade the Plaintiff to abort the pregnancy, Defendant began acting towards her with great insensitivity and extreme cruelty,’ the filing continued. ‘The Defendant blocked the Plaintiff from communicating with him, and coldly told her to ‘[T]alk to me when the legal stuff come up.’

Jefferson claimed Galea began ‘annoying’ him about Stella, forcing him to change his number as a result.

In another exchange, Jefferson told Galea: ‘U wanted the kid you can take care of it.

‘I tried to tell u this was how it was going to go u didn’t believe me,’ he later added.

Jefferson and Galea were previously close, according to her filing, and he even stayed at her mother’s New Jersey home for ‘two weeks’ during their undergraduate days LSU.

Galea, a former swimmer with the Tigers, graduated from Miami Law with honors in 2023 and is just embarking on a legal career while taking care of her daughter with the help of her own mother.