Sara Evans' ex-husband Craig Schelske filed a petition this past Wednesday in Tennessee for shared custody of their three children; Avery, 11, Olivia, 8 and Audrey, 6. According to court documents obtained by TMZ, Schelske brought the action in response to Evans' upcoming tour in support of her new album Stronger, which marks the first time she has toured extensively since their divorce. His petition says he seeks 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."
The couple 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 the family's nanny, Alison Clinton Lee. Schelske's court response claimed that Evans had a drinking problem, had suffered a nervous breakdown, and had engaged in nearly a dozen extramarital affairs, including liaisons with Kenny Chesney, Richard Marx and her Dancing With the Stars partner Tony Dovolani.
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 Chesney, Marx, Dovolani, or any member of the band Three Doors Down, and she subsequently settled the divorce out of court. She married former Univeristy of Alabama quarterback Jay Barker in 2008. In 2009 Evans settled a defamation lawsuit with her former nanny, 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. "It has been a long fight but when it comes to defending my kids, there is no cost too high,” Schelske said.
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