In late August, Britney Spears’ two sons, Sean Preston and Jayden, were visiting her and her dad Jamie Spears. At some point, Jamie told his grandson Sean to do something and Sean told him “no.” Sean then went to his room and locked the door. Jamie broke down the door and grabbed Sean. Jamie shook Sean violently and screamed at him. Jayden witnessed it, and Britney either witnessed it or she witnessed the aftermath of the assault. Sean was only 13 years old, just shy of his 14th birthday. Britney removed her sons and contacted Kevin Federline. K-Fed and his lawyer contacted the police and immediately sought and received a restraining order/protective order for the boys. After that, Jamie temporarily stepped down from Britney’s conservatorship too. Well… now it’s looking like Jamie will not face any criminal charges.
Britney Spears‘ dad Jamie Spears has been cleared of child abuse charges following an alleged altercation with his 13-year-old grandson. On Tuesday, the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office announced that criminal charges will not be filed against Jamie Spears as there was “insufficient proof that a criminal offense was committed.”
Jamie, 67, made headlines earlier this month after Britney’s ex-husband Kevin Federline and his attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan filed a police report, alleging that the singer’s father physically abused Sean during a visit at his home on Aug. 24. According to Kaplan’s testimony as recorded in the police report, Britney’s 12-year-old son Jayden was also present during Jamie and Sean’s fight. The Blast reports that Jamie allegedly “violently shook” Sean after breaking down a bedroom door to reach him.
“Britney did the right thing and removed the children and took them out of there,” said Kaplan, who added that Federline, 41, still wants his ex-wife to have “continuing and meaningful contact with their mother.”
A source previously told PEOPLE, “There was physical contact that made Sean scared and upset. Britney got upset as well and ended their visit with Jamie,” the source said.
This just made me think about how few times criminal charges are brought against men who abuse children and women. There was a child making a complaint, a child who was completely traumatized, and his brother was a witness to his assault. The boys’ mother believed them and she was upset about it to the point where she immediately removed them. The boys’ father also believed them and sought a full criminal investigation and legal protection for the boys. And now the police are like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. “Who can even say what really happened when we have a victim and a witness and two parents who believe their children?” Ugh.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Instagram.
Traumatized is so dramatic.
is it? Have you ever had someone break THROUGH a locked door and then been shaken violently by someone who is at least 100 pounds heavier? No? Ok then
Don’t minimize the experiences other people have because you can’t relate to them or understand them. Being physically threatened by an adult – especially someone who is your family – IS traumatic.
If something can change how a kid views other people or situations or change their own behavior because of something terrifying, yeah that’s trauma.
To be traumatized: subject to lasting shock as a result of an emotionally disturbing experience or physical injury.
you know what else is dramatic?
having grandad or someone else you love breaking down a door and shaking you while screaming at you. when you’re only 13 years old. sh*t, it would be bad enough if you were an adult.
I hope it never happens to you. although, then you’d probably actually get how traumatizing it can be.
Thank you to Piptopher, Valiantly Varnished, Wilady and whatWHAT? – you’ve all stated what should be so obvious to us all.
I really hope it didn’t happen. For the first time ever, I will not make judgement about something.
If TMZ is the one providing a summary of what happened, we have to take it with a grain of salt. Our understanding of events is probably heavily influenced by TMZ’s phrasing, and we might be mislead. When they only “quote” 1 or 2 words together, it’s a sign they are creating a mosaic from pieces of info.
They regularly lie. I trust a judge over TMZ.
Disciplining your child may be a bit of a grey area with the police, but disciplining your grandchild should not be. Britney’s dad has no right to lay his hands on her child. Period.
As someone who works in the legal field, I will speak up a bit for the police that responded and even the district attorney. It’s the legal language that probably prevents Jamie from being arrested/charged. There have been many times I’m frustrated at the charge or sentencing of an abuser but it’s due to the legal language, the legal statute. I will not assume the police simply shrugged and said meh, it’s not that bad. There’s no evidence of that. At least in this case the children are removed from the situation and have people looking out for their best interest, and Jamie doesn’t have access to them or other young children on a regular basis. I won’t say vulnerable because there is Britney but perhaps this change in guardianship will help her. Anyway, thats more than many of our victims and survivors have, and the DA was probably relieved that he wasn’t leaving them in a bad situation. Sorry for the long post but I did want to share another side 🙂 many states need lots of change in their statute language and new laws all together. It’s a very slow process :/
I agree with you. The other mitigating issue here is that while Sean and Jayden are minors under the law, they were just a couple of weeks shy of turning 14 and 13. So in that respect it’s misleading. They are teenagers, not toddlers. Another mitigating factor: at the time of the incident, the police noted on their report that Sean bore no marks, bruises, cuts or scratches. And then there’s Jamie Spears himself. He’s 67 or 68 years old and infirm. He supposedly almost died from a ruptured colon last December and is still recovering. He’s not a large man — maybe 5’8 or 5’9″. So reports of him “breaking down the door” are most likely greatly exaggerated. I definitely agree Jamie had no right to raise his hands to Sean. But again, from the police point of view, looking at Jamie, an elderly, infirm man who is not big and then looking at his grandson Sean who at 14 is at least the same size, if not bigger and certainly stronger and in better health and physical condition, I’m sure weighed in their decision not to press charges. If Jamie Spears assault on Sean resulted in any type of a wound or obvious market OR if Jamie had threatened Sean with a weapon of any sort, it would an entirely different matter.
Unfortunately, police in all 50 states are called in on tens of thousands of similar domestic abuse cases that “only involve” pushing and shoving. And they also get dismissed. Tragically, many of these incidents never get reported, or the perpetrators never get charged or the cases get dismissed and it escalates and the victims end up in a sorry state. We’re only hearing about this because it involves Britney Spears.
Maybe it was more what my dad did once, internal door locks are meant for privacy not security, they’re usually just snibs you can “break” in with very little force applied. In my case I was being a 13 year old asshole, if I had a kid who acted like I did, I suspect I’d be FAR less tolerant than my parents were. My Dad never in his life laid a hand on me though but then again the “violent shaking” is a tabloid report. Maybe it was horribly abusive, it certainly could have been but I think equally it may have been a much milder incident that tabloid media made more interesting because well that’s kind of their MO.
I’m just reading on another site that Britney’s long-time doctor died suddenly on the 24th of August and then the incident with Jamie happened the following day. It could just be a coincidence, but could Jamie have been possibly a bit on edge about Britney’s conservatorship being looked into further following the doctor’s death and lashed out? I’m in no way excusing what happened with Britney’s son, there’s no excuse for it and Jamie’s control over Britney has always unsettled me. Apparently Britney is going to court today.
He may not be facing criminal charges, but he’s still forbidden from having contact with Britney’s sons, per the restraining disorder. So, at least there’s that.
Edited to say: It’s not my place to judge whether something is blown out of proportion. I wasn’t there.
I hope everyone can find their happy ending, one way or another.
There is so much that we don’t know here. We are only hearing one side of the story. As an investigative reporter who covered the police and crime beat for many years, I had a strong feeling that Jamie Spears would NOT be charged. The first police reports stated that Sean had no marks or bruises or other physical evidence of assault. Also, we are only hearing one side of the story and the wording is slanted to portray Jamie in the worst light possible using phrases like: “breaking down the door,” “violently shook” “Jayden was traumatized.” Those were all statements made by Kevin Federline’s lawyer Kaplan when he went to get the restraining order.
I am not a fan of Jamie Spears. No adult should ever put hands on a minor. Jamie may in fact be guilty of allegedly shaking nearly 14 year old Sean. The fact is we don’t know. The public will probably never know the full facts of what transpired because he’s not going to be charged. That means that law enforcement either did not have enough evidence to pursue criminal charges OR that Jamie’s actions did not rise to the level of physical battery under the California statutes. The fact remains there is a three-year restraining order in place and Jamie is prohibited from seeing Sean and Jayden, which sounds like a good thing for all parties.
While it’s a moot point now, IF Jamie had been charged with physical assault, there would have been a very good case for reasonable doubt. Jamie is elderly and infirm and recovering from ruptured colon surgery that almost killed him. And he’s not a robust man. At 14 Sean is in good health and bigger and stronger than he is. IF the case had gone to trial, it likely would not happen until sometime in 2020 — at which point Sean would be closer to 15 and even bigger and looking less “child-like” every day. As for Jamie, who knows what shape he’ll be in a year from now? But he’ll be closer to 70. So it was always going to be a long shot that Jamie would get convicted.
Still lots of questions about this. Where was the bodyguard who is supposed to drive Britney and the boys everywhere?
Meanwhile Britney is still under a conservatorship run by Jamie’s handpicked person. Realistically, if Britney’s custody of the boys is now down to 10% and being enforced, all Kevin Federline has done is to cut down the amount of time Sean and Jayden will spend visiting and vacationing with Britney over the next four to five years. That’s a shame for Britney and the boys since she does not present any threat to them and obviously loves them.
I hope someone is looking out after Britney’s needs and taking care of HER finances in all of this mess. God knows she’s worked hard all of her life to support her entire family. She deserves something for herself.
It’s a massive mess and I wouldn’t want to trade places with any of them, no matter the $$ in the bank.
Yes, it’s a massive mess. I think we can all agree on this point.
There’s a hearing on the Conservatorship today. The judge is supposed to review the findings of a report prepared by an independent evaluator on the care Britney received from her doctor — Dr. Timothy Benson over the last several years. Dr. Benson died unexpectedly on August 24th at the age of 48 from a brain aneurysm — the day before Jamie Spears confrontation with Sean.
Both Britney and her mother Lynne Spears are supposed to be making an appearance in court today. Supposedly, Lynne is going to tell the judge she wants Jamie permanently removed as conservator on the grounds that he’s unfit. And Britney wants certain restrictive conditions of the conservatorship eased — like her right to have a cell phone and ability to drive…We’ll see what happens.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens in court today. Someone other than her father should be named permanent conservator, someone other than family. I don’t think less time with her kids is in their or her best interest, as long as checks are put in place to ensure everyone’s safety. With this situation Britney now has a contentious relationship with her father who is ill and elderly and who still has so much control over her. Her mother is waiting in thee wings, for what we don’t know. If things don’t get resolved I think Britney will continue to spiral downward, Sad all way around.