Husband of ‘Proverbs 31’ Wife Caught Up in Marriage Scandal

Austin McCollum, a young politician once viewed as a rising Republican star, has been detained over allegations involving his estranged wife, who previously told a court that he expected her to be a “Proverbs 31” wife.

McCollum, 35, was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of felony stalking and violating a restraining order obtained by his estranged wife, Ragen, 34, according to a probable cause affidavit obtained by the Daily Mail.

He was booked into Benton County Jail in Bentonville, Arkansas. McCollum had previously faced charges of aggravated assault and domestic abuse involving Ragen, allegations he has denied.

In court filings describing the alleged abuse, Ragen said her former husband punched her in the face, instructed her to kiss other men and pressured her to smoke marijuana before sex so she would not “flinch” during the encounter.

The latest arrest followed allegations that McCollum breached Ragen’s restraining order by appearing at their children’s school, staring at her in the hallways and looking through the windows of her car, according to the affidavit.

Ragen previously told the court that McCollum, who served in the Arkansas House of Representatives from 2017 until resigning amid the scandal, wanted her to be a “Proverbs 31” wife.

The phrase appears to refer to a biblical passage that describes a wife devoted to caring for her husband and children.

The allegations emerged against the backdrop of what had appeared to be an idyllic family life in a $900,000 modern farmhouse in Arkansas’ rural Bible Belt. McCollum and his wife, who works at Walmart’s headquarters, lived there with their four-year-old daughter, Eliza, and two-year-old son, Bankston, as his political profile continued to grow.

McCollum remains the Republican nominee for judge in Benton County, Arkansas, and has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

He was granted bail Thursday afternoon and has since returned to his $1 million bachelor pad in Bentonville.

Ragen was granted a restraining order against McCollum in August. The order bars him from coming within 1,500 feet of her home, workplace or their children’s schools.

The case returned to the spotlight this week after prosecutors accused McCollum of violating those restrictions.

A new filing by Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Joshua Robinson alleges that McCollum went to the children’s school knowing Ragen would be there.

According to the probable cause affidavit obtained by the Mail, Ragen had told McCollum she planned to attend an open house at Shiloh Christian School in Springdale from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. on September 22.

Although McCollum had registered for a separate tour at 11 a.m., prosecutors allege that he arrived early in an apparent attempt to intercept his ex-wife.

The affidavit states that he arrived shortly after 10 a.m., found Ragen’s car in the parking lot and looked inside the vehicle.

He then entered the school with a staff member and began “looking down the hallway where Ragen was standing with a group,” according to the filing.

McCollum drove away from the campus at about 10.30am, but returned less than 30 minutes later, when he began to ‘circle the parking lot’ against the flow of traffic. 

He then parked in a spot where ‘Ragen would have to walk past him to get to her car,’ according to the affidavit. 

Ragen was aware that her ex was apparently stalking her, and she asked an armed security guard from the school to walk her to her car, the legal document states.

Six days later, McCollum allegedly turned up at their son’s preschool, called Wee Friends School, around pickup time.

A teacher at the school said she saw the former politician staring at the entranceway as he drove past at about 5pm. 

‘She said it wasn’t a one-time glance, but a continuous look at the school entrance as he drove in the opposite direction,’ the court filing reads.

Ragen was so disturbed by the apparent stalking, the affidavit asserts, that she ‘kept her children out of school’ the following day. 

According to prosecutors, McCollum was spotted by a friend of Ragen’s walking past Wee Friends on September 29 at about 7am. The preschool was in the opposite direction to where McCollum lived.

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McCollum is also accused of breaching the protection order by calling Ragen’s cell phone on August 19, though his attorney reported this incident as an accident and no further action was taken. 

Police interviewed McCollum about the alleged breaches.

He told investigators that he did not pull up to the Shiloh Christian School Open House until after 11am – though prosecutors claim in the affidavit that surveillance footage contradicts this.

The former politician added that he allegedly did not see Ragen during his visit to the school. 

McCollum ‘wished to remain silent’ when he was quizzed about driving past Wee Friends School on September 28, according to the filing.  

The former politician confirmed that he did walk past Wee Friends the following morning, but said he had been attending an Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting at the church connected to the school. 

However, according to the church, there were no such meetings held at 7am, prosecutors wrote in the affidavit.

The lawyer who filed the latest claims, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Joshua Robinson, has asked the judge to place McCollum in custody to prevent him from stalking Ragen. 

McCollum was first arrested on August 1 at his $900,000 family home on charges including aggravated assault and domestic abuse.

He has pleaded not guilty to each count, and filed a civil countersuit against his ex-wife for allegedly taking marijuana in front of their children – a claim she denies. It is illegal to take the drug recreationally in Arkansas. 

Ragen filed for divorce on August 7 and her subsequent allegations made against McCollum do not make for easy reading.

At an August 25 hearing seeking the order of protection she later won, Ragen told a court she was so frightened of her husband that she had to smoke marijuana before they had sex with him to ensure she wouldn’t ‘flinch.’

Ragen also told the court how McCollum had ‘directed’ encounters with other men, including one occasion where he told her to ‘make out’ with a guy at a bar.

She made the allegations when questioned about whether she had been faithful by McCollum’s lawyer Lindsey Nicole Schmeidler at an earlier order of protection hearing, the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.

In her divorce complaint obtained by the Mail, Ragen alleged that McCollum had made her life ‘intolerable’ by committing ‘indignities’ that made it ‘impossible’ for them to continue living together.

Ragen told of how McCollum wrote a suicide note using his state representative stationery on February 23, in which he asked her to tell their children that he loved them. He did not follow through with his alleged threat.

Her petition for the order of protection, which was filed on August 6 and obtained by the Mail, detailed a catalog of alleged physical violence and psychological torment.

Ragen claimed McCollum offered to help her kill herself while she was suffering from post-partum depression and that he had dragged her around by her hair.

In her complaint, Ragen claimed that Austin once punched and choked her so violently that there was ‘blood everywhere,’ before detailing a series of other alleged attacks, including one incident where he allegedly ran her over in front of the children.

The alleged abuse unfolded behind closed doors, often after the couple came home from luxury weddings and balmy vacations, according to the court petition.

McCollum resigned from his position as state representative at the behest of Arkansas Governor Sarah Sanders on August 1, with a special election now set to take place in November.

He is currently still running unopposed to become a Benton County justice of the peace in November, after winning the March 3 Republican primary.

The Daily Mail has reached out to prosecutors as well as Austin and Regan McCollum for comment.