Toddlers and Tiaras mother fighting to keep her five-year-old daughter in custody battle
Friday 17 August 2012
A mother from the US who has entered her daughter into beauty pageants since she was just 13 months old has been accused of sexually exploiting her child and is now fighting her husband for custody.
Maddy Jackson, now five, became famous after appearing on TLC's Toddlers & Tiaras last year dressed in a Dolly Parton costume, complete with fake breasts and bum enhancing padding.
Following the infamous television appearance and negative media attention the girl's estranged father Bill Verst has sought custody of her.
Ms Jackson told an American publication that she is fighting hard to keep her daughter.
She stated: 'Maddy has been doing pageants since she was a baby and this is the first time Bill has ever said I'm a bad mother.’
'He never made an argument about it until the show aired and now he's trying to say that she's sexualized and that I'm trying to exploit her and I'm not!'
She further affirmed: 'Maddy loves pageants, she begs to go to them every weekend, which we just can't do.'
'She was so happy when she was on Toddlers & Tiaras. On Sundays when they're over she cries because she doesn't want them to end. I do not have to force her to do them, Maddy has so much fun she would do them all the time if she could.'
According to Ms Jackson, ex-partner Mr Verst is a convicted criminal on probation for a DUI and endangerment, a fact which she argues the judge, and the court-appointed psychologist, is ignoring.
Ms Jackson believes that Maddy's father puts her in 'dangerous situations', and that she is facing a losing battle thanks to his wealthy family, who she says is influencing the decision.
'I feel like I'm fighting a battle without bullets,' she said.
'It is my right to put my child in pageants, it is just like any other extracurricular activity like soccer or gymnastics or football,' she argued.
'It is not illegal to do pageants, it is a hobby that we participate in and the government cannot tell me that I can't put my daughter in pageants.'
The reports come after accusations branding the TLC show as an over sexualization of children.
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Posted by pwincessjane
RE: Toddlers and Tiaras mother fighting to keep her five-year-old daughter in custody battle
Poor child, two dickheads for parents.
Posted 18/08/2012 20:05:28
Posted by julie1212
RE: Toddlers and Tiaras mother fighting to keep her five-year-old daughter in custody battle
she should let her be a child, playing in the park & play with other kids, not putting all that make up on, & clothes lke a model, i think the mother would of liked 2 have done it, but isnt pretty enough, her face will be ruined with all that make up on, theyshould not allow these pageants its america i think its stupid.
Posted 21/08/2012 18:48:40