WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange secretly fathered two children with one of his lawyers while he was hiding inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, according to the British news agency PA.

Citing court documents, the agency reported that his lawyer Stella Morris and Assange have been in a relationship since 2015 and have two children, Gabriel and Max.

The couple’s first son, Gabriel, was born in 2017. Their second child, Max, was born last year.

Morris said she met Assange in 2011 when she was a legal researcher and he was living at the Ecuadorian Embassy, and the two developed a strong bond.

Assange spent seven years at the Ecuadorian mission. Police arrested him in April 2019 for failing to surrender to an earlier warrant issued in relation to a Swedish extradition request in a case involving charges of sexual assault which were later dropped.

Morris also issued an appeal for him to be released from a British prison, saying that there were now genuine fears for the health of the WikiLeaks founder due to the coronavirus and his isolation in prison.

Assange has been held in Belmarsh prison in London since he left the Ecuadorian Embassy a year ago. He is waiting for an extradition hearing on May 18 on behalf of the U.S., where he is wanted for questioning over WikiLeaks' activities.

Assange's lawyers argue that the 48-year-old is at risk of coronavirus infection because it is "endemic" in prisons, and he is more vulnerable because of physical and mental health issues.

Last month, a British court rejected a bail request, ruling that Assange was likely to skip U.S. extradition proceedings if freed.