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Look Roger. Not a shot fired!

CHILD-SUPPORT SCOFFLAWS STUNG
Sunday, August 25, 2002

By KELLY ADAMS, Columbian staff writer
Five Clark County residents thought they were headed for Disneyland or Hawaii on Saturday morning when they showed up at the Hazel Dell offices of KWNT radio.

Instead they received an all-expenses paid trip to jail for failing to pay child support.

In an effort to track down about 120 people in the county who aren't making their payments, the Clark County Sheriff's Office set up a fake radio station, complete with a Web site and a "contest line."

Letters were sent to the last known addresses of those who owed money, but many came back marked "Return to Sender."

Of the nine who called to claim their prizes, five showed up Saturday at an office building in Hazel Dell. Once there, the "contestants" were asked to make a promotional tape for the new station. Instead of a recording engineer, they were met by a uniformed deputy who arrested them.

"Every single one of them was speechless," said Sgt. Mike Cooke, who organized the sting.

All of the offenders had something to say once they were in front of Judge Scott Anders after they were booked in the Clark County Jail. Most claimed they had only been working for a little while and were getting back on their feet.

"My life is just starting to make sense," said Brendan Latimer of Vancouver. He was accused of owing nearly $13,000 in back support to his child. Latimer said he had just started a great new job but had spells of unemployment and drug use. He's starting to work his way out of $40,000 worth of debt.

"This one doesn't go away though," Anders said, explaining that child-support obligations can't be dissolved by filing for bankruptcy. "The money will keep adding up. We'll keep bringing you back."

Anders also called on Latimer to continue on the steps to sobriety.

"Clean and sober is a good first step, but you need to deal with the wreckage of the past. We're dealing with the wreckage here."

Latimer was released on the condition that he start making payments as promised by Sept. 11. Anders suspended the one-year jail sentence with the option of reinstating it if Latimer fails to live up to the court's conditions.

Others will spend some time in jail. Tammy Maki was brought in for failing to appear in court after she got several months behind in child-support payments.

"I just want to get this behind me," she told Anders. "I'll do whatever it takes."

Anders sentenced her to spend the weekend in jail but ordered her released on Monday morning in time to get to work.

Ric Bishop, the chief civil deputy, said the $300 spent for the sting was well worth it. Officers can spend that much tracking down one person who owes child support.

"They are a very elusive group," he said.

The five people brought in owed a total of $56,586, Cooke said.

Le Ann Larson, a deputy prosecuting attorney with Clark County's child-support unit, said while all that money may not be paid up immediately, she hopes it sends a message to the more than 100 people with outstanding warrants.

Cooke agreed and encouraged those behind on their child support to make payment arrangements: "Otherwise the prize patrol might come get them."

I question the title of this thread on a number of levels. The phrase "man down" derives from military and law enforcement usage, and infers that the individual in question who is down is a victim or a non-combatant. To use the phrase in referring to Morales, the subject of the article, distorts and cheapens the meaning of the term.

Unlike Morales, real "men" honor their obligations to their own children and obey the law. It is apparent that describing Morales in any way as a "man" stretches the definition of the term to something grotesque and unrecognizable.

Where I come from, we describe those who go around shooting at police officers and not paying their just debts with terms that do not include the word "man".

One suggestion for a thread title change: "Scumbag Sperm Donor Gets What Was Coming To Him In The War Against Irresponsibility."

Crime Records of Fla. Agents Cited

MIAMI (AP)--Florida's child welfare agency employs at least 183 people with criminal pasts, including felonies such as child molestation, child abuse, sex crimes and drug dealing, according to a report.

Among the Department of Children & Families employees with criminal records, three were punished for child abuse, 22 for grand theft, seven for aggravated battery, two for DUI manslaughter, three for dealing drugs, 10 for aggravated assault with a weapon and nine for welfare fraud, The Miami Herald reported Sunday.

One employee, the head of the agency's data-security team in Tallahassee, is listed on the state's list of sexual predators for molesting a 5-year-old boy. DCF spokesman Tim Bottcher said the agency does not consider the man a risk because he does not come into contact with clients.

DCF officials said the agency was aware in most cases of the charges against the employees and conducted background checks to make sure their lives were on track and that DCF clients would not be in danger. But administrators acknowledged that in some cases the agency did not know about the criminal pasts.

Bottcher said the 183 employees with records should be considered in the context of the number of people the agency employs statewide, about 24,000.

The DCF has been under fire for months because of its handling of cases involving missing children.

The fallout led to the resignation of department Secretary Kathleen Kearney. Kearney's departure came amid a series of troubling cases, including the disappearance of 5-year-old Rilya Wilson, who was missing from her foster home for 15 months before the agency noticed.

Three employees submitted their resignations this week after the newspaper exposed that they had not disclosed their criminal records to the DCF as required.

Spokesman Tom Barnes said it can be difficult to fill demanding jobs that pay so little.

``We are very aware that the most vulnerable people in our community are trusted to people in circumstances where there is a potential for these kinds of backgrounds,'' he said. ``It's a constant battle to keep these positions filled.''