Their parents first tied the knot in August 1983 in Melbourne Florida, and Tanya gave birth to Ariana two years later. Then, Tanya filed for divorce in December 1990.
The judge ordered for Tanya and James to split legal custody of the now-bartender, and Tanya was granted primary physical custody. Ariana was allowed to see her father every other weekend, and he was ordered to pay $150 per week in child support.
James and Tanya ended up back together and welcomed Jeremy in May 1992. They remarried in September 1993, but their relationship was far from perfect.
Reports indicate that cops were called to their home in November 1995 after a fight broke out at their home. Tanya told the responding officers that they “got into a verbal argument because James stated she was a slob and she never cleaned the house.”
She claimed the fight quickly turned physical, as “she pushed or slapped him away from her because James was yelling at her. Tanya further stated that James then pushed her down to the kitchen floor. Tanya hit her head on a counter top and then bit her tongue.”
The officer reported that she was bleeding when he arrived.
James denied that the fight was physical, and insisted that Tanya lost her balance and fell. The responding officer reported that he was under the influence at the time, and had asked him repeatedly to sit still while they interviewed Tanya.
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“James stated he was checking on his children,” the officer reported, adding that he was asked twice to stay put for his safety (he had claimed Tanya hit him in the stomach). “James stated, ‘look you’re in my house, you can’t tell me what to do…James got angry.”
But, Tanya refused to sign a battery affidavit and was given a domestic violence form. James was arrested regardless, and no charges were filed.
James then filed for divorce again in September 2008. Their second split was finalized in January 2009 after they entered into a Marital Settlement Agreement in December 2008. The judge ordered for James and Tanya to split legal custody of Jeremy, but he was to live primarily with Tanya.
James was also ordered to pay $1,583 per month in child support — a huge increase from his payments for Ariana.
Jeremy soon took after his father, as his ex filed a restraining order against him in 2011 after the cops had repeatedly been called to their home. She reported that he abused and threatened to kill her, and pleaded with the judge to sentence him to “anger management and/or alcohol counseling” classes.
Ariana and Jeremy’s father died in 2013 around the time of Ariana’s birthday. As viewers of the show are aware that she was distraught when Tom Sandoval left her alone to grieve on her birthday to go to Las Vegas on a boys’ trip.
Jeremy, now 26, was arrested just months later for marijuana possession, but the case was dismissed.
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