The series "Toddlers and Tiaras" made a lot of people sick--little girls being put in copious amounts of make-up with their hair teased to ridiculous heights and paraded around in frilly pageant dresses for the vicarious satisfaction of their mothers. Now, the events surrounding one of the families featured in the series are sickening the public for another reason.
June Shannon, known as "Mama June," is the mother of Alana Thompson, a little girl who captured audiences and got her own spin-off series called "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo." Now the show has been cancelled after allegations that Mama June is dating an ex-boyfriend that was sent to prison for 10 years for molesting another daughter.
Anna Marie "Chickadee" Cardwell, now 20, says that Mark McDaniel molested her beginning when she was 8 years old. The girl went to live with her grandparents, and McDaniel went to prison. Cardwell says that she reunited with her family when they began filming "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo."
Now, McDaniel is out of prison and rumors suggest "Mama June" is once again dating him. Some even suggest that the recent split between June Shannon and Alana's father Mark "Sugar Bear" Thompson is the result of Shannon's infidelity with McDaniel.
Shannon denies that she is dating McDaniel, but there is no question that the man has been around her and her children. She says that she has not seen McDaniel since his release, but the celebrity gossip site TMZ has posted multiple pictures of the two together, including a picture of the man standing behind "Honey Boo Boo," 9, who is only a year older than Cardwell was when McDaniel molested her.
The rumors were enough for TLC to cancel "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo," issuing the following statement:
TLC has canceled the series "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo" and ended all activities around the series, effective immediately. Supporting the health and welfare of these remarkable children is our only priority. TLC is faithfully committed to the children's ongoing comfort and well being.
Despite already having several new episodes already filmed, TLC says the cancellation is immediate and the new episodes will not be aired.
If the allegations are true, it could result in Shannon losing custody of her children--especially in light of photographic evidence that she has exposed her children to the sex offender who molester her oldest daughter.
In Oklahoma, pursuant to 57 O.S. � 590 of the Sex Offenders Registration Act, "It shall be unlawful for any person who is required to register pursuant to the Sex Offenders Registration Act for any offense in which a minor child was the victim to reside with a minor child or establish any other living accommodation where a minor child resides. Provided, however, the person may reside with a minor child if the person is the parent, stepparent or grandparent of the minor child and the minor child was not the victim of the offense for which the person is required to register."
Leaving a child with a registered sex offender could also lead to charges of child endangerment under 21 O.S. � 852.1.
Regardless of whether or not "Mama June" is dating McDaniel, she faces intense scrutiny and criticism for allowing the man who committed forcible oral sodomy against her 8-year-old child to be a presence in her life and to allow him to be around her other children.
