Man jailed (for 1 year) for child support, even though he was not the father, released

[Liberal_in_LA]

Man jailed for child support, even though he was not the father, released

By Bill Rankin

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A South Georgia man who had been jailed for more than a year for not paying child support — even though he was not the biological father — was released from custody on Wednesday.
Related Metro stories »

“I thank God for this day,” Frank Hatley, 50, said in a telephone interview shortly after his release. “It feels good being free.”

Hatley had sat in a Cook County jail since June 25, 2008, even though a special assistant state attorney general and the judge knew Hatley was not the child’s biological father.

After showing a judge during a hearing Wednesday that he was indigent, Hatley was ordered released from confinement, his lawyer, Sarah Geraghty of the Southern Center for Human Rights, said.

The judge, however, postponed deciding whether Hatley must still repay the more than $10,000 in child support the state says he owes. But Hatley does not have to make any monthly payments until that issue is resolved, Geraghty said.

“I’m certainly glad Mr. Hatley has been released but the underlying issue has still yet to be resolved,” Geraghty said.

Two DNA tests — one conducted nine years ago and another earlier this month — proved that Hatley was not the father of Travon Morrison, who is now 21. Even after learning he was not the father, Hatley paid thousands of dollars the state said he owed for support. After losing his job and becoming homeless, he still made payments out of his unemployment benefits.

http://www.ajc.com/news/man-jailed-for-child-91830.html

[scheming daemons]

1. Making a man pay child support for a child that isn't his is THEFT

This man should be paid back EVERY penny by the mother.


She should be jailed for extortion. She knew the child wasn't his.

[proteus_lives]

2. That is what should happen.

+1

[azurnoir]

4. you could corect but OTOH do not be so sure

if the mother collected any public assistance then it is the state pursuing this man not the mother, women on public assistance are put under enormous pressure to name a father and that includes demands for intimate details of the "act of conception" once a father or possible fathers are named the state will grab the first one that they find and milk him for life that includes every penny that was spent on the child and in some instances the mother

eta if the mother was married to the man at the time of birth then by law in some states he is legally responsible for the child even if the mother says he is not the father

[mp9200]

5. Totally Agree

[unblock]

8. where in the article does it say she KNEW he wasn't the father?

it's extremely likely she knew he MIGHT not be the father, but that's very different.

[anigbrowl]

14. The theft is actually by the state, not the mother, it seems

[Lance_Boyle]

15. Who pocketed the money, state or mother?

She's a scummy thief.

[Hepburn]

16. The state pocketed it as welfare reimbursement. n/t

[anigbrowl]

17. But the state, whose employees *knew* he was not the father, put him in jail. why?

You seem not to have thought this through.

[progdonkey]

3. special place in Hell...

for that attorney, judge and especially the mother. She should rot in jail for at least 21 years--the amount of time she stole from this man. After all, he didn't suffer merely the one year in jail, but the tens of thousands of dollars in debt, the shame of being a homeless deadbeat dad, and working menial jobs just to pay her child support for a child that wasn't his.

[Blue_Tires]

11. +1

[mitchum]

13. +2

[mamaleah]

6. Stupid Stupid Stupid

The state or county just wants its money. When they pay child support to a mother, as soon as they can finger a father, they will go after him for the money.

It seems in this case they didn't care that Mr Hatley was not the father. They just wanted their money back.

The judge, however, postponed deciding whether Hatley must still repay the more than $10,000 in child support the state says he owes.

Dear Idiot Judge, HE IS NOT THE DAMN FATHER. GO FIND THE REAL FATHER OR JUST EAT THE MONEY!. Or, sit down with the mother and ask her to really think about who the daddy is.

The Aug. 21, 2001, order, signed by Cook County Superior Court Judge Dane Perkins, acknowledges that Hatley was not Travon’s father.

But clearly, common sense is not the rule in this county.

[corpseratemedia]

7. how insane!

The judge and s.a.a.g. should be dismissed, what utter shitheads.

[14thColony]

9. He sounds like a pretty upstanding kind of guy

"Even after learning he was not the father, Hatley paid thousands of dollars the state said he owed for support. After losing his job and becoming homeless, he still made payments out of his unemployment benefits."

Even though he's not the father, sounds like he would have made a good one.

[Liberal_in_LA]

12. Heard on the news this morning...the authorities still want 16K in past support from him

[mamaleah]

18. That's ridiculous.

It's not his kid.

Why isn't the mother being pestered for the real identity of the father so that the county can go after the correct deadbeat?

[no_hypocrisy]

10. This is what my first impression of the OP was:

There's case law that mandates child support of a stepchild after a divorce if the defendant stepparent financially supported that child during the marriage regardless of whether the biological parent didn't support the child. Example: a child is born out of wedlock, the mother doesn't go to court to get child support, she marries a second man, unrelated to the child. The stepfather contributes money to the marriage and the child. Still the biological father is not approached to contribute money toward his child. The couple divorces. The Court may award child support to be paid by the stepfather, not the biological father. (Although I'm pretty certain the stepfather can sue the biological father for reimbursement of the child support.) The divorced stepfather still faces the threat of imprisonment if he doesn't pay the child support.