Retna

LOS ANGELES - Actor Charlie Sheen was ordered on Friday to keep at least 300 feet away from his estranged wife, actress Denise Richards, and their two young daughters after Richards said in court papers he had been abusive and had threatened to kill her.

Sheen, star of the hit CBS television series "Two and a Half Men," denied the charge and the judge agreed to his request that all telephone conversations between the couple be tape recorded.

Sheen was also granted one-day-a-week visitation with his daughters, Sam, 2, and Lola, 10 months, provided it was done under supervision.

The restraining order is the latest chapter in the stormy marriage between Sheen, a one-time playboy, and model/actress Richards, 35, who filed for divorce from him last December, after less than three years of marriage.

According to a written declaration to the court, Richards said she had considered asking for restraining orders against the 40-year-old actor several times but was talked out of it because she was told that "by my doing so, I would impact (Sheen's) image and cause others to lose their jobs.

"I am filing this now because I can no longer accept (his) abusive and threatening manner and must stop him from the cycle of his abuse toward me and our children and his continued threats of violence and statements that he is going to kill me."

Richards said Sheen, the son of actor Martin Sheen, abused prescription drugs, gambled compulsively, frequented prostitutes and liked to look at pornography on the Internet.

Sheen, in court papers, denied Richards' claims. In a statement on the entertainment Web site TMZ.com, Sheen's publicist, Stan Rosenfield said, "For the last year, Charlie Sheen has been hit with these ridiculous charges over and over and over again and has chosen to be a respectful gentleman and just respond with no comment."