Last Wednesday Craig Schelske, the former husband of country star Sara Evans, filed a petition in Tennessee for shared custody of their three children. According to court documents obtained by TMZ, Schelske brought the action in response to his ex-wife's upcoming concert tour, which will mark 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."
In a press release yesterday through his publicist, Mitchell Keller, Schelske asked for his family's privacy in the current custody issue. The statement said that while shared custody documents were filed and do refer to Schelske's concerns, he remains committed to protecting his children from controversy, which includes resolving custodial issues with Evans as quickly as possible.
"Sara is the mother of my children, she is a wonderful artist and I wish her well," Schelske said in the release. "This is a family matter and I would ask that our privacy be respected at this time."
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. 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 her former nanny 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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