Merilee Gerth, a former V.P. of Jesse James’ West Coast Choppers, says her ex-boss was “sincere” in his television mea culpa.

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You’ll remember Gerth. She is the mistress, as Breaking Celebrity News revealed, who infamously kept a T-shirt with a certain fluid that triggered a big sexual harassment settlement.

We encountered her in Los Angeles the day after Jesse admitted on Nightline that he was the victim of abuse as a child -- and that the shame of it turned him into a womanizer and cheater.

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But Gerth — who ended her trysts with James in 2007 — said she was aware of James’ secret past before Tuesday’s admission.

“I think it was a good, sincere interview,” Gerth said.

“He didn't specifically talk about certain incidents, but I know they had a very strained relationship when he was a kid.”

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In the interview on Nightline, James said of his father: "He beat my [expletive] pretty good a bunch of times... I just remember, like, clinched teeth, strained-neck look on his face. My whole childhood, I never had a chance to be a kid... I was always scared.”