Authorities: Happy Father's Day ... Not
Inspired by Father’s Day, Chicago-area authorities decided to try to make a dent in the state’s $3 billion child support backlog.
Cook County sheriff’s police arrested 130 deadbeat dads last week, and tried to arrest, but could not find, four deadbeat moms, reports the Chicago Sun-Times.
Among them: Edward Kearns, 43, who spent Sunday in jail because he hadn’t yet paid his $10,000 bail, owes $112,000. The former union electrician is supposed to pay $478 weekly for his three children, the newspaper reports, but hasn’t been able to hold a job because of a drinking problem, according to his father. “I hope they keep him in jail,” says his ex-wife, Margaret Doran, who works as a waitress.
The total of unpaid child support nationwide is some $100 billion, the Chicago Sun-Times writes. According to state records, at least 20 dads in Illinois each owe more than $100,000, and the top unpaid child support total owed by one person in Illinois is $367,000. The 130 dads arrested last week, who have ignored repeated court orders, reportedly owe $1.5 million.
Any bail money obtained from jailed parents ordinarily is transferred to their former spouses, the paper says.
