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Mindy McCready Says Son Was Beaten by His Grandmother

Angela Weiss, Getty Images

From the beginning, Mindy McCready has claimed that she had good reason for taking her 5-year-old son, Zander, from the home of her mother, who has legal guardianship, and fleeing to Arkansas, where the pair were discovered earlier this month.

As part of her recent interview with ABC News, the troubled country star opened up about the nature of the mental and physical abuse she says the boy's grandparents had long been inflicting.

"Zander was being beaten with a wooden spoon," Mindy told ABC, as also reported in the NBC 'Today Show' clip posted below. "There are scars on Zander's back. There are scars on his bottom and legs from the spoon."


Mindy has also charged her mother, Gayle, with practicing strange religion in the household.

"My mother believes she is a prophet sent from God," she said. "They see dead people in their home all the time."

Gayle has denied the allegations, claiming that her daughter -- who has long struggled with drug and alcohol addiction -- is in need of help.

"There are some underlying problems, and the only time a person really gets help is when they want to help themselves," Gayle tells NBC of her daughter, who has been in and out of jail on drug and alcohol-related crimes, along with several stints in rehab.

Mindy, who says she's clean, in a steady relationship and pregnant with twins, lit out for Arkansas with Zander last month, touching off a search that ended with authorities raiding her boyfriend's home.

The singer told ABC that U.S. Marshals came in with "assault rifles" drawn, and that Zander witnessed the whole spectacle from a couch, not from a closet hiding space, as initial reports had suggested. The boy is currently in foster care in Arkansas, and as both sides ready for a court battle, Mindy maintains that she's a changed person.

"I have vigorously gone out and tried to learn from my mistakes and tried to better myself in every way possible," she told ABC's '20/20.' "There's nobody that wants to be better at being me than me."

Watch Mindy McCready Discuss the Custody Case

McCready's Son Found Hiding in a Closet in Arkansas

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cqdeed

To me Grandma is one scary looking lady and I notice Grandpa wasn't saying a word.

December 12 2011 at 8:18 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
sharon

What noone understands is that Mindy has long since cleaned up her act and that this kid should have been back with her long ago. Didn't anyone ever see the interviews after she did the Celebrity Rehab treatment center...she said it saved her life, and she is here to prove that and can talk about it very clearly. Actually she was never an alcoholic..she has abused alcohol some , but in the past by a long time. Her mother created a whole fake suicide story and tried to frame her into it. But the hospital figured it out and released her the next day. This grand ma is where you oughta be looking. And if you saw 20/20 he other night they have a signed affadavit from the great grandma saying the kid was being abused.

December 11 2011 at 11:27 PM Report abuse +4 rate up rate down Reply
Todd Hilley

Mindy , leave that baby alone.

December 11 2011 at 10:54 PM Report abuse -5 rate up rate down Reply
alphiapw

Did you know that there are more laws protecting our animals and pets than there are protecting our children? Sad. Ask for a test for mom, then give that poor boy back to his momma!

December 11 2011 at 10:31 PM Report abuse +5 rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to alphiapw's comment
Nicole

Ok first of all that's not true. And second of all, this woman seems incredibly troubled and you want to just send the kid back because of allegations she is making?

December 11 2011 at 10:41 PM Report abuse -2 rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Nicole's comment
iamgodzangel

actually Nicole it is true, as a matter of fact there was laws protecting animals BEFORE also.

December 12 2011 at 1:25 AM Report abuse +1 rate up rate down
bds6543

That's our great Juvvy courts now.. They just don't give ONE flip about the kid.. just their own "opinion" of what is going on, and listen to the lies of everyone without investigation. Mostly they IGNORE what is going on right under their "noses", b/c they just don't care. They give abusers and beaters custody of their children, and then take away a kid from a loving parent. Go figure.

December 11 2011 at 10:24 PM Report abuse +2 rate up rate down Reply
lorettalouise_jones

i DONT AGREE WITH OUR JUSTICE SYSTEM AT ALL, IF SHE"MINDY" HAD A DRUG AND ALCOHAUL PROBLEM WHY DIDNT OUR SO CALLED SYSTEM HELP HER TO GET THE HELP SHE NEEDED AND KEEP HER OWN BABY. THEY SHOULD HAVE NEVER RAIDED THE BOYFRIENDS HOUSE NOR PUT HER SON IN FOSTERCARE.HER MOTHER OUGHT TO BE BEATEN WITH THAT SAME WOODEN SPOON EVEN WORSE. WHAT A GRANDPARENT? THE SO CALLED SYSTEM NEEDS TO PUT YOU UNDER THE PRISON WHERE YOU BELONG. KEEP PROTECTING YOUR BABY MINDY YOU HAVE MY SUPPORT

December 11 2011 at 10:20 PM Report abuse +3 rate up rate down Reply
wrdwhiz

My kid cousin's husband was beaten with a big wooden spoon by his (German) grandmother when he was a child. He grew up fairly stable, but wasn't placed in foster care. I don't know what, if anything, that his parents did about this abuse. He talks about it freely with his wife and his in-laws (her parents) and they've all always been in enough sympathy with him to have had a healing effect on him. I hope Mindy McCready's son fares as well in the future.

December 11 2011 at 9:59 PM Report abuse +1 rate up rate down Reply
Peter

She looks so f***ing hot in that pic.

December 11 2011 at 8:44 PM Report abuse -3 rate up rate down Reply
ladyj7157

its easy enough for authorities to determine if she is telling the truth or not and if she is, she should have her son back and we should all let her live her life without the magnifying glass we so love to hold in front of others

December 11 2011 at 7:32 PM Report abuse +6 rate up rate down Reply
PETE

How about ask the child.!! I was in this same spot when I was a child about this age and I remember how scared I was. No one asked me what I wanted. They were the adults so they knew what was best, or so they thought. But you know what it was my life in question here. I know what would make me happy so all the adult should find out if both parent are fit to raise me then let me make my choise.

December 11 2011 at 6:49 PM Report abuse +2 rate up rate down Reply

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