This April Craig Schelske, ex-husband of country star Sara Evans, filed a petition in Tennessee for shared custody of their three children in response to the announcement of his ex-wife's summer concert tour. According to court documents obtained by TMZ, his petition sought to "protect the children from the likelihood of substantial harm" because during previous tours he has witnessed first-hand that "the children are exposed to inappropriate conduct, spend little time with [Sara], and are placed in a party atmosphere with excessive drinking and drug use."
Schelske lost that motion, but in a new development Evans' former backup singer and nanny Ashlie Tucker has come forward to support Schelske's claims. A press release today on Tucker's behalf today said, "Footage released shows the former Dancing with the Stars contestant and members of her crew participating in illegal acts, while attempting to engage Tucker who was 16 years old at the time."
Tucker said Evans admitted that fellow country star Kenny Chesney exposed his genitals to her while they were spending "personal time" on his bus, and that Evans also recounted a "physical encounter" with one of her own band members to Tucker. The alleged events would have occurred while Evans was still married to Craig Schelske.
“Tucker recently passed two of three polygraph tests, which confirmed her allegations are true," said Mitchell Keller, Tucker's publicist. "The testing was conducted by former St. Louis, Mo. detective, Lee Boyd.”
Evans and Schelske filed for divorce in 2006 amid mutual allegations of marital infidelity, with Evans claiming that her husband had a drinking problem, watched pornography in the family home, and maintained extensive computer photo files depicting him having sex with other women including another family nanny, Alison Clinton Lee. Evans later withdrew the portion of her complaint which included claims of an affair with the family nanny, and her lawyers failed to introduce into evidence any of the alleged pictures of Schelske having sex with other women when his legal team demanded that they do so.
Schelske's lawyers then asked Evans to state under oath whether she admitted to having sexual relationships with Kenny Chesney, Richard Marx, her Dancing With the Stars partner Tony Dovolani, or any member of the band Three Doors Down, and she subsequently settled the divorce out of court. She later settled a defamation lawsuit with Alison Clinton Lee for a reported $500,000.
In March of 2011 Craig Schelske won an undisclosed settlement from Sara Evans' divorce attorney, John Hollins Sr., for slander in his public claim that Schelske had committed adultery in the marriage, which was never substantiated.
“My deepest concern is for the well being of Evans’ children in this matter," Tucker maintained. "I want to tell the truth about Sara and nothing more. I feel that many people are being treated unfairly in the situation and I hope the facts will help reveal what needs to be done to better the lives of her children."
Tucker is currently pursuing a solo career of her own. Sara Evans' most recent single "A Little Bit Stronger" reached #1 in the charts.
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