A woman who claims her 17-year-old son was fathered by the late Ray Charles agreed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday to answer questions under oath about her sexual history, as lawyers for Charles's estate seek to challenge paternity in an ongoing child support case.
Mary Anne den Bok, who is unemployed, had filed a petition in August 2004 seeking to raise monthly child support payments for her son Corey from $3,000 to at least $60,000, arguing the existing amount was inadequate given the estate's reported value of around $100 million.
At Tuesday's hearing, den Bok said she regretted the size of her original request and told the court she felt humiliated by prior questioning about her personal life. She stated that for 21 years she had been intimate only with Charles.
The estate's executor, Joe Adams, has disputed whether Charles was Corey's father, despite the boy being named in Charles's will. Den Bok's deposition is scheduled for 4 January, with a further hearing set for 10 January.
Charles, who died 10 June 2004 at age 73, has seen renewed public interest through his final album and the biographical film "Ray," starring Jamie Foxx.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in December 2004, in its own words.