Who's Your Daddy?
Paternity fraud is finally making the news, at least in Los Angeles.
The American Association of Blood Banks reported that of 280,000 paternity tests conducted in 1999, 28% showed the man tested was not the father of his presumed child. Worse, in many states, a woman can pick a man at random out of the phonebook and put his name on her child’s birth certificate. If the man does not somehow gain extra sensory perception and quickly realize what has been done to him (he has 6 months in California), he can be ordered to pay child support of more than half of his income by a family court.
In many, if not most cases, once the poor guy finds out what has happened to him, he can’t even get out of the court enforced child support with DNA evidence. Not that getting that evidence is easy, because all the woman has to do is apply for a permanent restraining order against the man she is perpetrating fraud against, and he will find himself in jail if he goes anywhere near the child (who is supposedly his) in order collect a hair sample. Getting a court order for such a test usually involves many thousands of dollars in court fees.
Taron James, of Los Angeles, was hit with a default paternity judgment for a child that was not his. James proved in court that he was not the father with court ordered DNA evidence, but only after he was forced to make child support payments for over a decade. Amazingly, even though the court ruled that James was not the biological father of the child, it still would not reverse the child support judgment against James!
The court’s excuse? If they reversed the child support judgment, many women who have fraudulently extorted child support money from hapless men would loose their child support payments. Yes, you read that right – the courts of California are promoting and protecting fraud and extortion. Watch the TV news report here. Paternity fraud is the only known example of a victim of a crime having to pay the perpetrator.
Watch for this to become an issue in Washington State, the country’s leader in single mothers. Men in Washington have learned that marriage and family are sure fire ways to loose their most basic constitutional rights. In King County, for example, 46% of men in their 30’s have never been married. So, women in King County that want children often have to resort to getting pregnant without the consent of the men they are sleeping with.
The American Association of Blood Banks reported that of 280,000 paternity tests conducted in 1999, 28% showed the man tested was not the father of his presumed child. Worse, in many states, a woman can pick a man at random out of the phonebook and put his name on her child’s birth certificate. If the man does not somehow gain extra sensory perception and quickly realize what has been done to him (he has 6 months in California), he can be ordered to pay child support of more than half of his income by a family court.
In many, if not most cases, once the poor guy finds out what has happened to him, he can’t even get out of the court enforced child support with DNA evidence. Not that getting that evidence is easy, because all the woman has to do is apply for a permanent restraining order against the man she is perpetrating fraud against, and he will find himself in jail if he goes anywhere near the child (who is supposedly his) in order collect a hair sample. Getting a court order for such a test usually involves many thousands of dollars in court fees.
Taron James, of Los Angeles, was hit with a default paternity judgment for a child that was not his. James proved in court that he was not the father with court ordered DNA evidence, but only after he was forced to make child support payments for over a decade. Amazingly, even though the court ruled that James was not the biological father of the child, it still would not reverse the child support judgment against James!
The court’s excuse? If they reversed the child support judgment, many women who have fraudulently extorted child support money from hapless men would loose their child support payments. Yes, you read that right – the courts of California are promoting and protecting fraud and extortion. Watch the TV news report here. Paternity fraud is the only known example of a victim of a crime having to pay the perpetrator.
Watch for this to become an issue in Washington State, the country’s leader in single mothers. Men in Washington have learned that marriage and family are sure fire ways to loose their most basic constitutional rights. In King County, for example, 46% of men in their 30’s have never been married. So, women in King County that want children often have to resort to getting pregnant without the consent of the men they are sleeping with.
posted by Iguana at 8:33 PM
2 Comments:
Excellent article.
Igy, I just wrote to my state rep., senator and interim governor asking what is being done about this. The senator was the only one to respond, and she directed me to Edith Rice, cooridnator/counsel for senate human services and corrections committee. Edith then directed me to RCW codes, to which I replied, "I am trying to get those changed". I have not heard anything for a week now. I'll keep you posted.
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