Man Sues After Finding Girl Not His Daughter

Yahoo News ^ | 11/01/02

[Libloather]

Man Sues After Finding Girl Not His Daughter
Fri Nov 1,10:43 AM ET

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - An Australian man is suing his former partner to recover more than $10,000 he spent on a little girl, for things such as presents, zoo trips and meals, after discovering she was not his daughter, a newspaper said on Friday.

"I want it all back -- every cent for every toy, every blanket, every bit of food," the man, who can't be identified for legal reasons, said.

"I wouldn't have spent all that money had I known five years ago she wasn't my kid," he was quoted saying by the Herald-Sun.

The claims include take-away McDonald's food over five years, four visits to an amusement park, three Barbie dolls, a Pooh Bear play tent, a day of skating, and child support payments.

The Herald-Sun said the man took the action after DNA tests found the girl was not his daughter.

The girl's mother said she was willing to repay the child support payments but that she should not have to pay back anything else.

"She had a good time with him that's the main thing," she was quoted as saying. "I don't think he should carry on too much about it. He should treat it like doing something nice with a friend."

[Libloather]

"I don't think he should carry on too much about it."

He should get everything back - with interest.

[RightOnline]

That's nothing. There have been numerous cases where men have proven that they weren't the fathers of the children involved.........and have still been socked with child support.

[mhking]

"Hold muh beer 'n watch this!" PING....

If you want on or off this list, please let me know!
This has come about after much badgering by you, my friends and extended family...

[DainBramage]

I've actually thought about what I would do if my kids were to turn out to be
fathered by someone else, and easily decided I would just let it be. In my case
the benefits I have received from them far outweigh the money.

Of course, I have great kids, and 13 years under my belt.

[dennisw]

"partner"? girlfriend? wife?

[OldEagle]

DITTO!

[Pippin]

This is sick!

It's not the little girl's fault she's not his daughter, so why should she be made to basically regret all the good times she's had with the man she regarded as her father?

[FormerLurker]

At least there he doesn't have to pay child support for a kid that's been proven not to be his. Here, he'd be screwed for at least 18 years...

[FormerLurker]

It's not the little girl's fault she's not his daughter, so why should she be made to basically regret all the good times she's had with the man she regarded as her father?

Yeah, I pretty much agree with your point there. He should try to pick up his life, count his blessings, and if he was a man, stay good friends and send a present or a card once in a while...

[End The Hypocrisy]

Agreed. Freepers discussed "paternity fraud" very extensively with a victim, at the following highly popular thread:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/768909/posts

[Pippin]

While I agree that hte mother should be made to pay ack the child support, I don't believe the gifts should be returned. Let the little girl keep the toys and the good memoties. and remember, for 5 years, this man was the only father she's known. Don't you think this is hurting her?

[Godel]

Its called fraud. Thats like saying that a women who is raped should sit back, enjoy it, and count her blessings.

[quebecois]

The man is not the villian here. The guy is not angry with the girl, he is angry at the woman's duplicity. Obviously, she knew about this all along, but was perfectly willing to allow both this poor man and her daughter live a lie. She is sick.

[ChadGore]

Re:"This is sick!"

I agree that the focus should remain on what's best for the child, but doesn't a man have a right to legal redress when he has been defrauded in the most agreegious manor imaginable?

[End The Hypocrisy]

Ping

[End The Hypocrisy]

ping

[Pippin]

I'm not talking about the adults in this, I'm talking about an innocent 5-yaer-old girl who only know that the man she called "daddy" for all her life for some reason unknown to HER wants to now have nothing to do with her and wants the gifts he gave her back. A 5 year old child knows nothing of DNA or fraud or anything like that. She only knows she is being rejected for no reason at all in her mind or she's thinking maybe she's done something wrong to make her "daddy" stop loving her.

[Pippin]

I agree the mother is the villian in this as she not only dupped the man but she lied and hurt her daughter. I hope she doe pay every penny she extorted back to him, but don't punish the child by taking her toys and gifts away from her.

[AnAmericanMother]

We've had some legal wrangling over this very issue in Georgia. Problem is, you're balancing the right of the father not to be defrauded against the right of the kid (who in any event has done nothing wrong) to a family.

Georgia has sort of struck a middle ground here. Each case is decided on its own facts. If the father had no reason to suspect that the child was not his own, and he promptly takes action to disentangle himself as soon as he learns that the child may not be his own, he may do so. On the other hand, if the father does NOT take action as soon as he learns of a potential paternity question, but just lets things slide along (so that the child grows up believing that the man is his daddy) then he may NOT back out of the deal.

For some reason (the price of DNA testing went down?) we have had a fairly large number of these cases in the past 2-3 years, and the results are all over the map, depending on whether the putative father should have been suspicious or whether he took prompt action. Most extreme case was a dad who tried to get out of paying child support when the kid was THIRTEEN! (court concluded he should have known something was up when he married the woman on the rebound from another relationship and she turned up pregnant within days of the marriage. He had a blood test (not DNA test although available) done and claimed he was told that his blood type "proved" the child was his. Trial judge didn't believe this cock-and-bull story, neither did Court of Appeals.)