Maci Bookout Celebrates Son Bentley’s Middle School Graduation: ‘So Proud Of You’
Proud mom moment! ‘Teen Mom’ star Maci Bookout gushed over her 14-year-old son Bentley on Instagram after he completed a major ‘chapter’ in his life.
Maci Bookout, 31, is so proud of her son Bentley, 14, who just graduated from middle school. The Teen Mom star shared a family photo from Bentley’s graduation on May 18 and congratulated her oldest child on his big accomplishment. In the photo, Maci, her husband Taylor McKinney, 34, and their children Jayde, 7, and Maverick, 6, all gathered around Bentley, who was dressed in a blue suit and oversized sunglasses for his graduation day.
Maci, who shares Bentley with her ex Ryan Edwards, 35, shared a sweet message to Bentley in her Instagram post that read, “And just like that the chapter of middle school ends. So proud of you Benny, your next chapter is going to be amazing… find joy in the journey!”
Bentley’s dad was not at the graduation since he’s currently in prison after pleading guilty to harassment charges made by his estranged wife Mackenzie Edwards. Ryan has experienced several run-ins with the law, including when he was arrested in April for violating his parole. He was arrested on March 1 and was charged with harassing Mackenzie — with whom he shares son Jagger, 4, and daughter Stella, 3 — just a few days after she had filed for divorce. Mackenzie was granted both a restraining order and temporary custody of their children at the time of filing.
Ryan was sentenced to 11 months and 29 days in prison on April 20 at Hamilton County Court. Judge Starnes, who oversaw Ryan’s legal case, gave the reality star some tough love following the sentence. “He needs to grow up, you know that. You have three kids. You may have some problems with your wife, but you have three kids,” Starnes told Ryan, before adding, “I’m trying to save your life.” Ryan is due back in court on June 12 for the DUI and drug possession charges involved with his April 7 arrest.
Before Ryan went to jail, he had a tearful reunion with Maci on an episode of Teen Mom Family Reunion. Maci spoke directly to her estranged husband about how he hasn’t been there for their son, and Ryan got emotional and admitted his faults as a father. Maci did apologize to Ryan, who has dealt with substance abuse, for “not putting in more of an effort to understand the battles you were fighting and struggles you were going through.”