Seeking Sister Wife stars Dimitri Snowden has filed to end his marriage to his third wife. On Tuesday, Snowden officially filed divorce documents in a Los Angeles court seeking to dissolve his marriage to Christeline Petersen amid alarming accusations of domestic abuse, TMZ was the first to report. At this time, further details regarding their split have not been revealed, and neither Snowden nor Petersen have publicly addressed the divorce documents.
The former couple had been featured on the TLC series. Petersen had traveled to the U.S. from South Africa to be courted as Snowden’s third wife. The Daily Mail notes that the new divorce documents suggest Snowden isn’t legally married to his first wife, Ashley Snowden, as it is illegal to be married to more than one person in the state of California. He and Petersen do not share any children, though Petersen is a mother to two young daughters.
Videos by PopCulture.com
The divorce filing comes after Petersen in March was granted a temporary restraining order against Snowden. In court documents, Petersen alleged Snowden was physically abusive towards her throughout the course of their relationship. Petersen alleged Snowden abused her “numerous times” over the past year, including an instance in January when he allegedly woke her up by “slamming my head into the headboard of the bed and he was yelling at me.” She also accused Snowden in the documents of being abusive while they were intimate, claiming that she sustained “bruises, scratches, and redness around her neck” after Snowden “choked me during sex, even though I told him not to.”
While the restraining order was initially granted, a judge in April dissolved it and tossed the case, saying Petersen did not meet the burden of proof. The judge also dissolved a case against Snowden’s first wife, Ashley, whom Petersen claimed: “shoved me to prevent me from leaving the home my husband and I shared with her.” In those documents, Petersen said her children were afraid of Ashley.
Amid the legal troubles, Petersen received support from Vanessa Cobbs, who tied the knot to the Snowdens in Season 2 of the TLC series but left the relationship before Season 3. Cobbs shared numerous social media posts, including an image of a purple heart drawn onto her hand. The color purple is used to represent solidarity with victims of domestic violence. She also shared a gallery of quotes speaking of liars and enablers. At this time, none of the parties involved in the matters have released public statements.
