just made public this week by RadarOnline.com — Shawn Darling worked as O’Neal’s personal tech wiz for two years, first in South Florida (when O’Neal played for the Miami Heat) and later in Arizona, after O’Neal was traded to the Phoenix Suns. Darling alleges that he saw O’Neal destroy evidence of multiple marital affairs by dumping an iMac in a nearby lake, and that he acted (on O’Neal’s direct orders) to document whatever evidence existed of one specific affair, so that his then-wife wouldn’t discover his indiscretions.

Representatives for O’Neal have vehemently denied the charges, raising Darling’s past criminal history and claiming the suit “seeks only to embarrass, harass and extract money from Mr. O’Neal.”

Everything started to unravel, according to the suit, after O’Neal and his wife, Shaunie, reached a divorce agreement in November 2009. Darling was then contacted by the attorney of O’Neal’s mistress to see if he could help with a complaint that the basketball star broke into her voicemail account, deleted messages, and changed her password. O’Neal, knowing that Darling had knowledge of his actions, then allegedly contacted an active-duty Arizona detective about how to plant child pornography on Darling’s computer (which supposedly contained incriminating evidence against O’Neal).

Then, two months later, Darling filed a police report against O’Neal, who allegedly tried to hack into Darling’s voicemail. Five days after that, O’Neal’s mistress filed her civil complaint.

Got all that?

Darling is suing for unspecified damages, claiming that he has “feared for his safety since finding out that O’Neal was furious” for providing information to his mistress and that “O’Neal sent emails to his manager insisting on making Darling pay for what he did.”

It’s been a busy summer for the 15-time All-Star, who signed with the Boston Celtics just one day after the suit was filed in South Florida. O’Neal also reportedly proposed to reality TV star Nicole Alexander.

Photo: AP Photo/Paul Connors

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Authors: Erik Malinowski

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