The wife of singer and songwriter Don McLean has filed for divorce from her husband, just weeks after he was charged with assaulting her during an altercation at their home in Camden.
Patrisha McLean, 55, has filed a complaint for divorce in Rockland District Court, according to her attorney Gene Libby of Kennebunk.
The 70-year-old performing artist and his wife have been married for 30 years. The McLeans have two children.
“After having time to reflect on her marriage, Patrisha decided that divorce is in her best interest, both physically and emotionally,” Libby said in a press release issued by Libby’s office on Thursday.
McLean was arrested at his home on Jan. 18 on a misdemeanor charge of domestic violence assault. The day after his arrest Patrisha McLean obtained a temporary protection from abuse order from Rockland District Court that prohibited her husband from having contact with her.
In her statement to the courts, she said her husband “terrorized me for four hours until the 911 call that I think may have saved my life. He was scaring me with the intensity of his rage and the craziness in his eyes.”
The couple later agreed to dismiss the protection from abuse order, but the Knox County District Attorney’s Office added five new charges in February that included: domestic violence criminal threatening, domestic violence terrorizing, domestic violence criminal restraint, criminal mischief and obstructing the report of a crime. The maximum sentence for each misdemeanor charge is up to 364 days in jail. McLean has pleaded not guilty to all the charges through his attorney Walter McKee of Augusta.
“Since Don McLean’s arrest … Don has been prohibited from contacting her and she has gained strength and insight away from his influence and control,” Libby said in the press release. “The domestic violence event of Jan. 18, 2016 is one of many abusive episodes resulting from his rage and controlling behavior throughout the marriage.”
Libby told the Associated Press that the legal papers filed Thursday cite “adultery, cruel and abusive treatment, and irreconcilable differences.”
McLean has retained Michael Asen, a prominent Portland matrimonial attorney, to represent him in the divorce matter.
Contacted at his office Thursday evening, Asen said his client does not want to talk with the media. However, Asen emailed a brief statement on his client’s behalf.
“Don is deeply saddened by the divorce and still cares deeply for his wife. He strongly disputes the allegations that Mr. Libby has made as well as the criminal charges, but these allegations are the subject of a criminal matter and Don has asked me not to try the criminal matter or the divorce in the press,” Asen said.
“He does not want this divorce, and certainly does not want to end this marriage of close to 30 years in a public fight with his wife. He was hopeful the parties could work through their differences with dignity and asks that people respect the privacy his entire family deserves,” Asen said.
The divorce filing in Rockland District Court does not offer much detail, such as a division of estate and income, Asen said.
Asen, who has practiced law for more than 30 years, has argued over 20 cases before the Maine Supreme Judicial Court including ones concerning property distribution and jurisdiction in divorce cases. Asen has been appointed to the Governor’s Commission to Study the Future of Maine’s Courts and the Advisory Committee on the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure.
Don McLean is best known for his 1971 hit “American Pie,” which he sang with the Portland Symphony Orchestra in 2013 during Portland’s Fourth of July celebration on the Eastern Promenade. Since 1971, McLean has amassed more than 40 gold and platinum records worldwide and was inducted into the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame in 2004.
Patrisha McLean is a children’s photographer who specializes in black-and-white portraits. Her photographs have been exhibited in museums and galleries across the country, and are in the permanent collections of the Farnsworth Museum and the Portland Museum of Art.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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