MANATEE, Fla. — The saga that has become the personal life of Tiger Woods took an unexpected detour Thursday through Manatee County.
Melinda Jannette, a 30-year-old porn star from Sarasota, filed a petition at the Manatee County courthouse to determine the paternity of her 9-year-old son, alleging the world's No. 1 golfer is the father, according to court documents posted by TMZ.com Thursday night.
The documents were not available late Thursday night on the clerk of court's website, but the documents available at TMZ included the petition and a receipt for a $23.16 filing fee.
Jannette could not be reached for comment at her Sarasota home. Her husband Nick Jannette answered the door and called Jannette's agent, Gina Rodriguez, with Tarzana, Calif.-based DD Management Group.
A Bradenton Herald reporter heard Rodriguez tell Nick Jannette that an interview would not be granted because the Herald wasn't paying.
"I'm here to file a petition for a paternity test," Jannette said in a TMZ video shot outside the courthouse. "The reason is because my mother is claiming that in 2002 she has a confirmed paternity test for someone who is not the father."
Manatee County court documents show another petition to determine paternity with the same child was made Jan. 23, 2002, with 34-year-old Pele Lacruz Watkins.
Watkins has been in federal custody since October 2004 and is scheduled to be released in December for charges including a firearm violation, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office website and the Federal Bureau of Prison website.
According to local court documents, Watkins was found to be the child's father and ordered to pay child's support to Jannette's mother, who has been keeping the child since 2007.
"(Watkins) is not the dad. He never took a DNA test," said Nick Jannette, responding to a question about the previously filed petition.
In the video, Melinda Jannette stated she believes Tiger Woods is the father.
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