After photos surfaced of the southern matriarch spending time with a convicted child molester, June “Mama June” Shannon is now admitting to a relationship with another sex offender who apparently fathered two of her children. The whole mess started about a month ago when photos surfaced of Mama June spending time with Mark McDaniel who was recently released from prison after being convicted of molesting a relative of the pageant mom. Mama June’s daughter Anna Cardwell revealed that McDaniel molested her when she was young, and though Mama June denied the two had started dating again, the damage was done and TLC soon pulled the family’s reality show off the air.
Now, June is admitting to being involved with another sex offender who she claims fathered daughters Jessica and Pumpkin. In an interview with ET, the reality star came clean about her relationship with McDaniel and the biological father of two of her children:
Jessica and Pumpkin have the same dad, but Jessica’s dad has had nothing to do with her over the years. So, why the hell would I open up that can of worms until today? I lied to my family and told them it was somebody else.
The man in question is Michael Anthony Ford, a 37 year-old convicted sex offender who was sent to prison for sexual exploitation after getting busted on an episode of NBC’s To Catch a Predator in 2005. Before Mama June’s confession, Pumpkin believed McDaniel to be her real father, hence the reason the family was seen spending time with the man.
I was sitting right there with twelve other people. It was a conversation that she wanted her answers: what happened, why did he leave, you know, if he was her real father. He admitted to her, no. I had already told her that but, you know, she wanted to hear from both sides of the story.