Spears’ father won’t be charged with abuse
Britney Spears’ father will not be prosecuted on allegations of child abuse involving one of his grandchildren, the district attorney of Ventura County, California, announced on Tuesday.
District Attorney Gregory Totten issued a press release saying that criminal charges will not be pursued against James “Jamie” Spears of Westlake Village in the county north of Los Angeles.
He said the Ventura County sheriff’s department investigated “allegations of child abuse” against Spears.
“After reviewing the evidence, there is insufficient proof that a criminal offence was committed by Mr Spears,” Totten concluded.
Sara Brucker, a spokeswoman for the district attorney, said sheriff’s investigators submitted their report Sept 4, but declined to discuss specifics of the allegations “given the confidential nature of the submitted charge”.
So why was this announcement necessary? Because Britney Spears’ ex-husband and father of their two sons, Kevin Federline, filed a complaint last month accusing Jamie Spears, 67, of physically abusing his 13-year-old grandson, Sean, during a visit at his home in Westlake Village, according to People.
But prosecutors have decided nothing criminal happened.
Brucker said she does not know whether the restraining order Federline obtained forbidding contact between the grandsons and the grandfather remains in effect, because it was issued by a family court judge.
Neither Jamie Spears nor Britney Spears nor their lawyers have commented publicly on the allegation, nor did they issue any statement in response to the prosecutor’s decision.
Neither Federline nor his lawyer, Mark Vincent Kaplan, returned messages seeking comment. Jamie Spears, who has been his daughter’s conservator for 11 years, recently stepped aside due to his serious health problems.
He retains control over Britney Spears’ finances.
In January, Britney Spears announced she was postponing her new Las Vegas residency show and other projects because her father had suffered a ruptured colon and “almost died”.