(DeSoto County, MS) Whispers about DeSoto County Representative Pat Nelson’s marriage started weeks ago.

Those whispers became shouts Tuesday night when his eldest daughter went public with a Facebook post, mentioning Nelson’s divorce, his two-year affair with a state senator, blackmail, and threats of violence.

Leigh Anne Rutheford represents Nelson’s wife, Katherine.

“I cannot comment at this time, Not at all,” she said.

Katherine and Pat Nelson are just days away from their 40th wedding anniversary, but now the two are locked in an intense divorce case.

Sources told WREG-TV Katherine came home from a business trip a couple of months ago to an empty house and cleaned out bank accounts.

Her husband then announced he wanted a divorce and is seeing Brookhaven Senator Sally Doty.

At a school chess tournament Wednesday, Katherine told me, “This has been very painful for me. I’m counting on my faith to get me through this terrible ordeal.”

Pat Nelson didn’t answer his phone Wednesday.

We made repeated attempts to reach Senator Doty, at her office, cellphone and through her assistant.

All we ever got was voicemail saying, “Hello, this is Senator Sally Doty, I’m sorry I missed your call.”

Two sources, one in the Legislature, reveal affairs among lawmakers are not in the least unusual. In fact, one even characterized the legislature as the “biggest swingers club in the State of Mississippi.”

Meantime, Chancellor Percy Lynchard unsealed Nelson’s divorce file late Wednesday.

The petition is run-of-the-mill, citing “irreconcilable differences, adultery and habitual and cruel treatment.”

Discovery in the case, with all the details, remains off-limits.

“We’re trying to work toward a mutually beneficial resolution for the family. That’s all,” said Rutheford.