Posted on 05/11/2008 4:18:12 PM PDT by ChildOfThe60s
A Fairfield man is in jail because his daughter hasn't gotten her General Equivalency Diploma (GED).
A judge ordered the father to stay on top of his daughter's education months ago and when that order wasn't followed, Brian Gegner was sentenced to 180-days in the Butler County jail.
The daughter, Brittany Gegner, says her father shouldn't be punished for her problems.
Especially, she says because she's now 18, an adult.
"It's ridiculously wrong," said Brittany Gegner.
"Of all the punishments they could have given him, to make him go to jail?," she asked. "I mean, probation – until I get my GED – would be reasonable, but to send him to jail? That's overboard."
Butler County Juvenile Court Judge David Niehaus ordered Gegner to jail for contributing to the delinquency of a minor by not following a court order which required Gegner to be sure his daughter got her GED.
This comes after ongoing problems of Brittany skipping classes at Fairfield High School and then, Butler Tech.
While Brian Gegner had custody of her, Brittany says it was while she lived with her mother that she was truant.
"I'm about to be 19 and my Dad's being punished for something I did when I was 16," she said.
"It's like I should, if anybody should be punished for this," said Brittany. "I would way rather me go to jail than my Dad."
"They probably should have punished me if they were going to punish anybody," said Brittany's mother Shana Roach. "Because she did live with me at the time, but because he had the custody, that's why he's being punished."
"But I don't understand the punishment all together because she's going to school, she's been going for four months," said Roach. "The only thing that's holding her back is she can't pass her math test."
Brittany has a daughter who's about 18-months-old.
She says she's determined to pass the GED for her daughter – and her father.
The judge says if she passes the test, her father could get out of jail before his six-months sentence is up.
Brittany's step-mother worries the time in jail will ruin their family.
She says he could lose the job he's worked for 15-years.
"I never dreamed they would put him in jail for this – for six months – it's crazy," said Stephanie Gegner, Brittany's step-mother.
"He has no control over what his adult daughter does," she said. "He just doesn't."
Court administrators say that even though Brittany is an adult now, the case remains active in their court because she was a juvenile when the problems started.
They say this type of punishment is rare and reserved for extreme cases when court orders aren't met.
Ok.. We , the American citizens need kids that can grow up and be productive citzens. The workers right now can not continue to carry the load of citizens that won't work. I never said this girl could not read or write. I was responding to a post that parents should not be forced to send their kids to school. I agreed but said that parents are responsible to see that their kids are educated.
You disagree with that?
I hope and pray the right lawyer finds his way onto this case, wins a $50 million judgment, and gets a law or two overturned.
Why is this chick complaining? If she’d just done the work, in the previous 2 years, she wouldn’t have to worry about her Dad going to jail.
Because she (they) didn’t really believe the judge meant it?
I got so fired up about this that I posted this story Friday on my blog and received a response from Brians sister that made me feel even more frustrated with the system. To view the article and the response by his sister please visit http://barryseward.com/2008/05/09/six-months-in-jail-because-18-year-old-daughter-didnt-get-ged.aspx after reading her comments please use the link on the page to send the Gov. a message letting him know how you feel. I guarantee after reading what his sister says you’ll be even more frustrated with the system.
If the Link doesn’t work just go to www.BarrySeward.com and scroll to the bottom (you’ll have to click view comments to see hers)
Thank You
Barry Seward
BarrySeward.com
That’s probably it. Sounds like she’s been threatened by folks in ‘the system’ for quite a while. It probably shocked her when someone finally did what they said they were going to do.
Sure, parents are responsible - to a point. But...that point is jail of a father who didn’t even gave custody at the time she was truant ? When does the kid become at least in part responsible for their own actions ?
Let’s get realistic - I have seen kids from perfectly good families with two responsible parents get out of control around age 12-13 or later. Short of locking up the kids in the house during non-school hours in an escape-proof room, driving them to school and personally delivering them to the school office where some school official signs a document that the kid showed up that day (yes, I have a friend who did just that because her youngest was a real problem), and picks up the kid after school from a school official, what are you going to do to make a teenager behave ?
Give me one realistic scenario, under today’s laws and culture, where a parent can so control a misbehaving teenager that they don’t get into this same bind.
Answer - the burden should be on the kid after a certain age. It is just not possible to control the mind and body of a 16yo 24 hours a day.
Hello all, I just wanted to remind everyone that tomorrow Brian Gegner will be back in front of Judge Niehaus asking for the judge to reconsider his decision for being jailed. It’s not to late to email the Gov. Strickland of Ohio to share your thoughts and to join in with the California Alliance for Families and Children to protest this terrible decision.
To email the Governor: http://www.governor.ohio.gov/Default.aspx?tabid=448
The Judges Contact info:
BUTLER COUNTY
Juvenile Justice Center
Judge David J. Niehaus >>
Phone: 513-887-3318
Fax: 513-887-5592
I urge everyone to take a stand and do both. Please, stand up for Justice.
Barry Seward
http://BarrySeward.com
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.