Charlie Chaplin 's divorce papers lay bare the film star 's 'cruel and inhumane ' treatment of his teenage bride during their short-lived marriage . Chaplin 's union to Lita Grey , who was nearly 20 years his junior , lasted just three years . The iconic film star was said have bedded the impressionable 16-year-old after promising her marriage and then tried to convince her to have an abortion when she fell pregnant . On the pairs wedding night Chaplin was also said to have confided in friends that the union was a better prospect than prison . An original copy of the couples 50-page divorce papers was set to fetch an estimated £15,000 when it goes under the hammer , after being found in America . The 50-page divorce papers of Charlie Chaplin and his second wife Lita Grey were found in a bank in America . Charlie Chaplin , left , married second wife Lita Grey , right , who was nearly 20 years his jounior , in 1924 and the union lasted for just three years . The divorce papers are set to fetch an estimated £15,000 when they go under the hammer in Plymouth . Chaplin , then 35 , married his second wife Lita , 16 , in 1924 . They divorced just three years later with the teenager lifting the lid on their marriage . In the papers it was alleged that Chaplin slept with the 'virtuous and inexperienced ' Lita when she was barely 16 after promising to marry her . On their wedding night Chaplin was said to have told friends that the marriage was a better option than prison . He said to Lita : 'This marriage wo n't last long , I will make you so damn sick of me that you wo n't want to live with me . ' Another part claims Chaplin delayed marrying Lita after she fell pregnant in an attempt to get her to have an abortion or 'criminal operation ' . And the silent movie star was accused of calling his young bride a 'gold digger ' who tried to ruin his career and stood in the way if his professional success . The papers also contain an order stopping Chaplin from moving his wealth before the settlement so it would not affect the court proceedings . Only around 16 copies of the divorce proceedings were believed to have been made , one sent to Chaplin himself and the others sent to various film companies and banks , involved in the proceedings . The papers for sale in Devon , were sent to the 1st National Bank of Los Angeles on the 11th Jan 1927 . Almost a century later they are being sold by Parade Antiques on Plymouth for £15,000 . The papers for sale were sent to the 1st National Bank of Los Angeles on the 11th Jan 1927 . Lita claimed that she endured 'cruel and inhumane ' treatment by Chaplin in the legal papers . John Cabello , who owns the antiques shop , said : 'We got it from a person in America - he was told to clear out some supplies and old documents at the bank and he found them . 'He was told they would be thrown away and he kept them instead . 'When the papers were published , Chaplin was ostracised for a while . People in the know thought he was quite a nasty piece of work . 'All this comes out and makes for quite hard reading , even by today 's standards . ' Rob Morrish , 27 , who runs the shop 's website , poured over the historic legal documents . The 27-year-old said : 'About a week 's worth of work went into researching the document , reading through it took some time . 'It 's all hand signed and very old and fragile . It was folded for a long time and required a lot of very careful handling . ' The papers reveal intimate details of the couples unstable relationship , believed to be an attempt by Lita 's lawyers to tarnish Chaplin 's reputation and gain a bigger settlement . Mr Morrish said : 'They met on set of one of his films and he seduced her as a young woman . It was frowned upon but he tried to make the most of the situation . 'When she became pregnant he was n't particularly pleased to be trapped in a marriage . 'He squirrelled her away and did not report the birth until months later to make it look like the child was conceived after they wedded . The papers also contain an order stopping Chaplin from moving his wealth before the settlement so it would not affect the court proceedings . Lita was granted a $ 800,000 settlement when the couple eventually divorced in 1927 . 'She was quite a young woman when they divorced and she was being sent by her lawyers to get as much as they could . She has said she regretted it in later life . 'It was way above and beyond what is standard for divorce proceedings , even for now . ' Eventually in 1927 , Lita and Chaplin divorced and she was granted a settlement of $ 800,000 , the largest at the time . Mr Morrish said : 'She achieved what her lawyers wanted . In the end she got what she wanted but he still had a fantastic career after that . '
• ##worth , 35 , married his second wife Lita Grey in 1924 . divorced three years later with Grey branding ex ' cruel and inhumane ' Salacious details of their married life revealed in one unpublished legal document . Divorce papers set to cost £ 15,000 when they go under the hammer .