The estranged wife of a NASA astronaut accused of committing the first crime from space — identity theft — said she went public with the allegations because of a bitter custody battle that was threatening her rights as a parent.
Summer Worden claimed her astronaut spouse Anne McClain accessed her bank account without permission while aboard the International Space Station on a six-month mission as part of an attempt to gain custody over Summer's 6-year-old son, KTRK reported.
The couple married in 2014 but Summer, who had given birth to her son prior to the wedding, denied McClain's request to legally adopt the boy. In 2018, they filed for divorce and have been locked in a custody battle.
The legal drama was brought to the public's attention after Summer filed a complaint that claimed her estranged wife had illegally accessed her financial records, the New York Post reported.
Summer told KTRK she initially planned to keep quiet about the alleged crime, which is believed to be the first committed in space.
"We really didn't want it to come back in my face and make it look like I was trying to retaliate against Anne or to ruin her career, which is obviously what she is stating now, that I'm trying to ruin her career," she explained.
That changed when a judge granted McClain a visitation schedule during a hearing two weeks ago.
"At that point, I knew I had to come forward and tell my story because the momentum of the case was not going in the direction we were hoping it to go in accordance with the law and preserving my rights as a parent," Summer said. Her mother Beth Worden told KTRK McClain had grown increasingly demanding of her time spent with Summer's son.
"I just felt that she was almost held hostage," Beth said. "It seems like right now Anne controls our life. We have to be home at 7 o'clock, three nights a week, so she can FaceTime with him. Well, that's the time that we're eating dinner, just getting home from soccer practice, and then every other Saturday she gets to see him so that takes him away from us."
McClain refuted the allegations Saturday in a tweet.
"There's unequivocally no truth to these claims," she wrote. "We've been going through a painful, personal separation that's now unfortunately in the media. I appreciate the outpouring of support and will reserve comment until after the investigation. I have total confidence in the IG process."
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