Wynonna Judd seeks divorce after husband's arrest

By Pat Harris

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) - Country music singer Wynonna Judd filed for divorce on Tuesday after her husband was arrested on what police said were sexual battery charges involving a child under 13.

Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron said Judd's estranged husband, Dan. R. Roach, was arrested in Abilene, Texas, as a fugitive after his indictment by a Nashville grand jury last week.

"The indictment is the result of an investigation by the (local police department's) sex crimes unit that began in late February of this year," Aaron said. Roach will be returned to Nashville in the next few days, he said.

The sexual battery charges against Roach were defined as inappropriate fondling and touching but not penetration, Aaron said. No other information was disclosed.

The divorce complaint filed in Franklin, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville, by attorney Rose Palermo only stated that the couple "are unable to live together successfully as husband and wife."

On her official Web site (www.wynonna.com), Judd, who sang with her mother Naomi as "The Judds" before going solo, said, "I am obviously devastated. Our family will pull together, begin the healing process and hopefully, by the grace of God, become stronger. We will move forward with our faith, family and our friends to find resolution to this difficult situation."

Judd, 42, was married to Roach, 49, in 2003. He was her bodyguard and road manager for 13 years and was described by her as a "very spiritual man."

The singer's first marriage ended in divorce in 1998. Her half-sister is actress Ashley Judd.