CAMDEN — In an email to PenBayPilot.com late Monday morning, Jan. 25, Patricia, also known as Patrisha McLean, wife of singer-songwriter Don McLean who was arrested Jan. 18 and charged with domestic assault, said that she intends to rescind her legal request for a Protection From Abuse order.

McLean filed for the PFA the day after her husband's arrest, and was granted a temporary order after it was served on him and made effective.

"I am rescinding the PFA," wrote McLean in her email Jan. 25. "Its protective stipulations such as no guns will be folded into the bail conditions. Don still faces the assault charge."

PenBayPilot.com did not previously identify the alleged victim of the Jan. 18 incident involving Don McLean, who lives in Camden on Hope Road with his wife.

In a phone call Monday afternoon, Patricia McLean said that she originally sought the PFA because her husband’s bail conditions did not mention guns.

“I didn’t mention guns to anyone then, when he was arrested, and I was concerned about that,” said McLean. “So I thought an easy way to fix that was to file for the PFA.”

What she did not count on, she said, was the court documents being public and the media frenzy that would follow, and how that might further stigmatize her husband.

In her handwritten request for the PFA, filed in Knox County District Court in Rockland, McLean wrote that she feared for her life during an alleged four-hour incident of "terrorizing" inside the family home. She wrote that her husband squeezed her flesh and grabbed her by the chin and jerked her head, something he had done previously during 10 years of “deep-seeded rage” when they were first married

After responding to a 911 call made by McLean's wife from inside the home shortly before 2 a.m. on Jan. 18, Camden police arrested Don McLean for a misdemeanor assault charge and took him to Knox County Jail. He posted $10,000 unsecured bail and was released that same morning.

Patricia McLean filed the PFA seeking to bar him from returning to the residence and to prohibit him from having any contact with her. Don McLean’s bail conditions already include a no-contact provision, among other standard conditions. He was scheduled for an arraignment Monday, Feb. 22, and a court hearing on the PFA was scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 28.

Also on Monday, Jan. 25 , Don McLean's lawyer, Walter McKee, issued a statement saying that the protection order case "is being dismissed by agreement."

In the statement, McKee said that Don McLean "stands by his unwavering statement from the beginning that none of what was alleged in the protection order case was true. There was never any abuse or criminal conduct by Don at all. The dismissal of the protection order case will confirm that. Don is looking forward to moving beyond this and getting back to his life and his music."

McKee said that the McLeans have made an agreement to "move forward and rebuild their lives."

"Neither party is seeking divorce. This now becomes a private matter," said McKee.

Also in the statement released by Don McLean's attorney was a statement from Patricia McLean:

"When I wrote out a statement in order to obtain a temporary protective order against my husband Don McLean I did not know it would be made public. I did not intend to define Don or our relationship based solely on the events recounted in the statement. Don has a big heart. He and I had many happy times in the 30 years of our marriage and what has recently transpired is unfortunate for all of us. I would ask everyone reading this to ignore the sensationalist, scabrous headlines and focus instead on the joy that Don, and his music, has given to so many for so long."

Patricia McLean said Monday afternoon that she did write the statement issued by McKee on her behalf. She reiterated that her husband is still facing the assault charge, and she did not want anyone reading her statement to believe otherwise.

“Don's lawyer said he was arrested on my allegation's alone, but he was arrested on what the police officer saw,” said Patricia McLean, who said she called 911 the night of her husband’s arrest and hung up before anyone answered. Then when a dispatcher called back, she said she told them not to come, that everything was OK.

“I didn’t want Don to suffer, I wanted everything to calm down, but they showed up and he [the officer] saw the bruise on my wrist and that's what caused them to want to arrest him,” said McLean. “I thank the officer, and I feel safe now that they agreed to amend the bail to satisfy my safety concerns about guns.”

Related links:

• Judge issues temporary protection order to victim in Don McLean case

• Camden police arrest singer-songwriter Don McLean for domestic violence

Reach Editorial Director Holly S. Edwards at hollyedwards@penbaypilot.com and 207-706-6655.