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Evans divorce papers cite adultery, porn
NASHVILLE—Country singer Sara Evans alleges in divorce papers that her
husband committed adultery, was verbally and emotionally abusive, drank
excessively and frequently watched pornography in their home.
Evans, 35, filed for divorce Thursday from Craig Schelske and announced
through a spokesman that she was quitting ABC's "Dancing With the Stars"
"to give her family full attention at this difficult time."
The couple married in 1993 and have three children ages 7, 3 and 2.
Schelske, 43 and currently unemployed, ran for Congress as a Republican
from Oregon's 5th District in 2002. He is a native of Salem, Ore.
Schelske denied all of the allegations in statement issued Friday night.
"I have made the decision to forgive Sara for the unfortunate campaign
that she and her publicity advisors are currently waging," he said in
the statement. "Sara has unfortunately become a dramatically different
person over the last year and it is something we have struggled to deal
with. Sadly, it appears we have failed."
In the filing in state court in suburban Franklin, where the couple has
a home, Evans alleges that Schelske watched pornography on the couples'
computers and has at least 100 nude photographs of himself in a state of
arousal.
She also alleges that several photographs show Schelske having sex with
other women.
According to the court documents, the oldest of the couple's children
confronted Schelske when he was watching pornographic material on the
television in their home.
Evans further alleges that Schelske frequently threatened her and "told
her that she is crazy," threatened to take the children to Oregon and
"continually interferes with (Evans') possession of and parenting time"
with their children.
Evans requests child custody, possession of Franklin home and child
support.
Evans was among 11 celebrities who paired with professional dancers to
compete on the third season of the popular ABC reality series.
"Ms. Evans hopes that her fans and TV viewers who've supported her in
recent weeks and throughout her music career will respect and understand
her need for privacy in the face of these recent events," Allen Brown,
her representative at Sony BMG Music Entertainment, said in a statement
Thursday.
The Missouri native was recently nominated for female vocalist of the
year honors by the Country Music Association. She made her recording
debut in 1997 and her 2000 album "Born to Fly" went double-platinum. Her
hits include "Perfect," "Suds in the Bucket," and "Real Fine Place to
Start."—Agencies |