Sherri Shepherd's First Husband Seeks Full Custody of Their Son

Jeffrey Tarpley claims their son, 9, suffers from "neglect," as well as learning and emotional problems

Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty

In the midst of a current custody battle over her unborn child with husband Lamar Sally, Sherri Shepherd is now facing a second custody case – this time against her first husband, over their 9-year-old son.

In court documents filed in April in Los Angeles Superior Court and obtained by PEOPLE, The View co-host‘s ex, Jeffrey Tarpley, sought an emergency custody modification hearing, claiming their son, Jeffrey Jr., was suffering from “neglect.”

The judge found no cause for a temporary emergency order, and instead scheduled a hearing for July 21, according to the filing.

Tarpley is seeking temporary physical custody of their son, with Shepherd getting “no visitation until the court rules on this issue at the hearing.” He claims their child with special needs, who lives in New Jersey with Shepherd, 47, cannot tie his own shoes, reads at a second-grade level, can barely write and has poor hygiene.

Tarpley contends in his custody petition that Shepherd’s busy work schedule “caused her to neglect Jeffrey and deprive him access to basic educational needs, a nurturing and loving environment, and care that Jeffrey so desperately needs.”

He also states that Shepherd’s “career is seven days per week non-stop,” and alleges that she relegates “primary responsibility for our minor child to unskilled nannies.”

Shepherd, meanwhile, has reportedly filed her own legal response, according to TMZ. In it, she purportedly calls Tarpley, who lives in California, an absentee father who is unfit to assume custody of their son.

The couple ended their 10-year marriage in 2011.

Tarpley’s petition was filed a month before Shepherd’s current husband, Sally, filed for legal separation. Those documents revealed that Shepherd and Sally are expecting a child via surrogate. In addition to seeking full legal and physical custody of the baby, Sally is requesting that Shepherd be granted “reasonable” visitation rights, and that their prenup be invalidated on grounds of fraud.

• Reporting by HOWARD BREUER

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