Toddlers & Tiaras Mom Embroiled In Custody Battle, Accused Of Sexualizing Daughter
Aug. 16 2012, Published 7:15 a.m. ET
By Alexis Tereszcuk - RadarOnline.com Entertainment Editor
When Maddy Jackson's mom Lindsay started putting her in child beauty pageants at 13 months she never imagined that she would be accused of sexually exploiting her daughter and have to fight her husband for custody!
Little Maddy shot to stardom after appearing on the hit TLC show Toddlers & Tiaras dressed in a Dolly Parton costume with fake boobs but it was after that TV appearance that her estranged father Bill Verst decided to seek custody of her and Lindsay exclusively tells RadarOnline.com that she is desperately fighting to keep her daughter.
"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," Lindsay tells RadarOnline.com. "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!"
Lindsay says that the judge in their custody battle is ignoring the fact that Bill is a convicted felon and is on probation for DUI and child endangerment and that the court appointed psychologist is going to turn custody over to him.
"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 says. "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."
Lindsay tells RadarOnline.com that Bill puts Maddy in "dangerous situations" and she feels like his wealthy family is influencing the decision and that she is in a losing situation.
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"I feel like I'm fighting a battle without bullets," Lindsay says.
As for her daughter, she doesn't want to stop doing pageants.
"Maddy loves pageants, she begs to go to them every weekend, which we just can't do," Lindsay says. "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."