Man jailed for not supporting someone else's child

[SilverOrchid]

Man jailed for not supporting someone else's child

Thu Jul 16, 3:48 am ET

ADEL, Ga. – A Georgia man spent more than a year behind bars for failing to pay child support for a child that wasn't his, but he was released after DNA tests showed he wasn't the father.

Frank Hatley, 50, had been jailed since June 2008 for not making payments, but two separate DNA tests in the last nine years showed he was not the father of the boy, who is now 21.

Southern Center for Human Rights attorney Sarah Geraghty won Hatley's release at a hearing Wednesday in Superior Court. A court order has also relieved him of his financial obligation to the Georgia Department of Human Resources.

"State child support officials have shown extraordinarily poor judgment in Mr. Hatley's case," Geraghty said.

Although Hatley was freed from making future payments after a 2001 hearing, Superior Court Judge Dan Perkins had ordered him to continue making $16,000 in back payments. He paid $6,000 of that before being laid off from his job.

Perkins ordered Hatley's immediate release Wednesday after determining that he was indigent. Although he was released, Hatley's paternity case is still unresolved. No future hearings are scheduled.

"Out of it all, I just feel like justice should be served for me in this case," Hatley told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution shortly after his release. "I shouldn't have to keep being punished for a child that is not mine."

Hatley had a relationship with Essie Lee Morrison, who had a baby in 1987 and told Hatley the child was his, according to court records. The couple never married and split up shortly afterward.

In 1989, Morrison applied for public assistance through the state Department of Human Resources. Hatley agreed to reimburse the state because he believed the boy was his.

Documents show Hatley paid at least $9,500.

But in 2000, DNA samples showed the two were not related, according to court records. A test earlier this month confirmed that.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090716/ap_on_re_us/us_wrongfully_jailed

[Chris_]

I'd say that kid's momma owes a lot of money to a lot of folks.

[Linda]

My youngest son is being sued for child support from a girl that convinced him at the time it was his kid....he signed the birth certificate....I tried to tell him at the time it wasn't his I saw the signs of her being pregnant before they got together...but he was hard headed and believed her...as the baby grew the resemblance to a friend of my sons, and his friends other children became more and more proof that the other guy was the father....the dept of children and families told my son ...it doesn't matter you signed the birth certificate....
In other words the state could care less who the real father is they just was to put some poor slob on the hook for the support. his case is still on going...the other grand parents have custody and are the ones suing for support...just from my son...not from their daughter....my son told the state he wants his daughter...we will see how that turns out....