Father Says Mindy McCready Pushing Luck Over Son

First Published: December 2, 2011 10:23 AM EST Credit: Access Hollywood Caption Mindy McCreadyST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Country singer Mindy McCready is pushing her luck with the legal system by not following a judges order to return her 5-year-old son to the care of her mother in Florida, her ex-boyfriend and father of the boy said Friday. McCready said Thursday she would not bring her son back from Tennessee, despite violating a custody arrangement. McCready took the boy during a recent visit at her fathers Florida home, and a judge signed an order Thursday ordering authorities to take the boy into custody and return him. Its not yet clear whether the singer could face criminal charges. Im doing all this to protect Zander, not stay out of trouble, McCready wrote in an email to The Associated Press on Thursday. I dont think I should be in trouble for protecting my son in the first place. McCready says she is in Tennessee and cannot travel because shes nearly seven months pregnant with twins. The judges order means law enforcement anywhere can pick up the boy and bring him back to Florida. The boys father, Billy McKnight, told the NBC Today show Friday he spoke on the phone with McCready and their boy after the judges deadline expired. He did sound healthy and ok. He wasnt crying or scared, McKnight said about their son. I think she believes she has a case and doesnt realize shes pushing her luck on this one, he said. McCready and her mother have had a long custody battle over the boy. The boy was living with McCreadys mother, who was awarded guardianship in 2007. McCready says her son has suffered abuse at her mothers house; her mother, Gayle Inge, denies the abuse allegations. Once the child is located, we will pick him up and bring him back to Florida, said Terri Durdaller, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Children and Families. Although these circumstances are unfortunate for a young child, his safety and well-being are our number one priority. McCready provided a series of emails to the AP with Lee County Judge James Seals ruling to return the boy. Mom has violated the courts custody order and we are simply restoring the child back into our custody, the judge wrote. Nothing more. Nothing less. The court makes nojudgment about whether Mom will or will not competently care for the child while in her custody. It only wants the child back where the court placed him. McCready found fame in the mid-1990s and has lived a complicated life in recent years. In August, she filed a libel suit against her mother and the National Enquirers parent company, American Media Inc., over a story published in the tabloid newspaper that quoted Inge. And in 2008, McCready was admitted to a hospital after police said she cut her wrists and took several pills in a suicide attempt. During the TV show Celebrity Rehab 3 in 2010, McCready came off as a sympathetic figure, and host Dr. Drew Pinsky called her an angel in the season finale. Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.