Childless man released from child support debt (CNN)

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- A Georgia man who spent a year in jail for nonpayment of child support -- despite the fact he has no children -- has been cleared of the debt, his attorney said Tuesday.

Frank Hatley, 50, spent 13 months in jail for being a deadbeat dad before his release last month. A judge ordered him jailed in June 2008 for failing to support his "son" -- a child who DNA tests proved was not fathered by Hatley.

Last week, Cook County Superior Court Judge Dane Perkins signed an order stating, "defendant is no longer responsible for paying any amount of child support." The order permits the state's Office of Child Support Services to close its file on Hatley.

"We're satisfied with the result for Mr. Hatley, but still troubled by the state's monumental lapse of judgment in this case," attorney Sarah Geraghty with the Atlanta-based Southern Center for Human Rights told CNN in a written statement. Hatley did not immediately return a call from CNN Tuesday.

His story dates back to 1986, when Hatley had a relationship with Essie Lee Morrison, who gave birth to a son. According to court documents, Morrison told Hatley the child was his, but the two ended their relationship shortly after the child was born. The couple never married and never lived together, the documents said.
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more: http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/08/11/georgia.child.support/index.html




Another example of why it's called "just us" ...

since he spent a year in jail for a debt that was not his. i am sure his lawyer is all over this.

Did he take him to his house for the weekend? Bring him over to meet his "grand-parents" and the rest of the extended family? Help with homework? Boy Scout campouts? Christmas morning presents? Birthday parties?

And then one day it all just ended? Was this boy left confused and feeling rejected?

I do think the mother is the main cultprit here, and the state is just grubbing for money (but then what state can afford NOT to grub for money?) But this man did establish himself as the father in this child's mind. For 13 years this child looked to this man for fatherly companionship. It is sad that it comes to an end so abruptly, and that it all comes down to money.

she was the one who named this guy as the dad. States should go after deadbeat dads - that's not grubbing for money, that's expecting parents to behave responsibly. That said, he should get some money back from the state, but I suspect his only option is to bring a civil suit against the mom.

Same deal. He had a relationship with his "son", and the paternity test said the boy wasn't his. The man was devastated when the mother said he couldn't see him anymore. :cry:

Though I notice the Office of Child Services has no intention of refunding any money to Hatley.

be refunding this guy money.... this is bs.

That woman should pay the Hatley every cent he gave to her.

Wrap it up men, women using freaking birth control or just get a DNA test.

I'm betting she knew he was not the father. Woman usually know who they have sex with and when.

having sex with two men then becoming pregnant soon after becomes the problem for her, once she finds out that she is pregnant and doesn't know who the father might be, then she needs to (A) tell her boyfriend that she is living with or (B) keep it a secret till the baby is born along with praying to her god that it is the child of the guy she is living with.


If she picks (B), once the baby is born and she knows (and she should) that the father is not her live in boyfriends child, then she not only made a mistake with her affair she then becomes a thief.

Its no different than stealing money out of his pocket every day, if she allows him to unknowingly supporting another mans baby.

My two cents...

will Child Services now go after the real father for the dollars?

or are only women sluts & tramps for doing that?


dg

don't ignore the summons.

dg

testing before any assessment for support is made against against anyone.

for this guy. Even after he found out the kid was not his, he continued to make payments to the state to the best of his ability. You don't see that everyday. The guy couldn't catch a break. I hope somebody gives this guy a helping hand. I hope he gets every possible penny back.

Oh, and if it's a black guy? Bonus!

and how much money did he loose in potential income? Locking someone up so that they can't make a living seems like defeating the purpose of getting a deadbeat dad to pay money to children.

I realize in this case he wasn't actually a deadbeat dad, but still, look how much money he didn't make those 13 months, and how much money that could have went to social services went instead to incarceration.

Stupid.