Court Knew Man Jailed for 1 Year+ Was Not Child's Father

[angelmom]

http://www.ajc.com/news/court-knew-man-jailed-91036.html?cxtype=rss_news_81960


Frank Hatley has languished in a South Georgia jail for more than a year.

The reason? He failed to reimburse the state for all the public assistance his “son” received over the past two decades.

The problem? Hatley is not the biological father -- and a special assistant state attorney general and a judge knew it but jailed Hatley anyway.


more at link...yes, these are the people I want making my healthcare decisions!!!

 

[SuziQ]

No wonder there is a jail overcrowding problem.

 

[Ms.Heather]

Un-freakin-believable.

I know women who have to CHASE "fathers" for child support. This is crazzzy. This man must feel helpless...

Once they get a hold of ya, I swear they squeeze the crap right outta you.

 

[montana_16]

I wish one of those lawyers who just can't wait to jump in to help the bad guys would come help this poor man.

Fat chance of that happening!!!

I feel so bad for this man.

 

[angelmom]

I think this is screaming for a lawsuit. He should be able to get back all of the money he already paid after the paternity test PLUS his lost wages from being in jail.

Now that he's homeless and jobless, the DA and judge should be held personally responsible for helping him get back on his feet. It's harder now to get a job in GA than it was a year ago, and having been in jail won't help. It's also harder to find housing if you don't have good credit.

I also think the bar association should be taking a long hard look at this case. I know they are both lawyers, but geez! It's not like they are defense attorneys. Aren't there some ethics rules? This seems kind of skeevy even for a bad lawyer. They are supposed to be serving the people and seeking justice!

 

[Lyn1001]

I fully understand everyone's outrage, and in a perfect world he wouldn't have to pay. However, he is only being asked to pay for the period of time he officially agreed to when he thought he was the child's father. He's not being asked to pay for the time after it was determined the child was not his. If he agreed the child was his, and legally agreed to pay, then he has to honor that obligation. I feel bad for the guy thinking the kid was his and having to pay all that time. But he agreed to it. It does not state why, after 13 years, the father and son had a DNA test. If he had doubts the child was his, why agree to pay the support and why wait that long to find out for sure if the child is yours? What made him question it after more than a decade?

To me, this guy's situation is a lot more fair than other ones I've heard of. In some states, if you're married when the child is born, the husband is the legal father, and legally responsible for the child, even if it does not biologically belong to him. So, Wife and Husband are separated due to wife having an affair. For whatever reason, the divorce isn't finalized until after a baby resulting from said affair is born. Husband now has to pay support, knowing the child is not his, simply because he's considered the legal father.

Of course, it brings up a whole other point when you begin discussing people who have lost their jobs having to pay child support, or continuing to have to pay the same amount they were before they lost their jobs. IMHO, if the person is actively seeking employment and was previously paying, they should not be in legal trouble or sent to jail.

 

[angelmom]

I understand that he should not be able to get the money back from the mother after the DNA test, but why is the state pursuing this man when he is not the father and has already paid thousands of dollars for a child who isn't even his? Have they caught up with all of the REAL deadbeat dads and have nothing better to do with their time? The fact that they are still trying to get this money for a child who is not his tells me that they have no idea who the real father is and just want the $$$. They don't care about fair. Maybe the mother should get off her *advertiser censored* and get a job and pay them back since she is such a liar (and unfaithful to boot!).

To put him in jail for a YEAR??? I thought debtor's prisons were a thing of the past! We have drug dealers and people who get drunk and cause fatal wrecks who don't do that kind of time, but this idiot judge puts a laid off homeless man in prison b/c he can't pay back child support for a kid who isn't his. Does that really make sense to anyone??

From my link above:

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.

Hatley’s lawyer, Sarah Geraghty of the Southern Center for Human Rights in Atlanta, said two independent DNA tests -- one nine years ago and one just a few days ago -- prove he is not the biological father.


Geraghty said Hatley had paid a total of $9,524.05 in support since April 1995, but records of payments before that time are not available.



But in 2000, DNA samples from Hatley and Travon showed the two were not related, according to a court records.

With the help of a Georgia Legal Services lawyer, Hatley went to court and was relieved of his responsibility to pay future child support. But he still had to deal with being a deadbeat dad when it was assumed that he was really the dad.

Homerville lawyer Charles Reddick, working as a special assistant state attorney general, prepared an order requiring Hatley to pay the $16,398 he still owed the state for child support.

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