Child Support for a Childless Man?

original story posted July 16, 2009

Frank Hatley, having spent a year in jail for falling back in child support payments, was finally released from his sentence on Wednesday. The twist to the matter is the fact that Hatley actually doesn't have any children.

With aid from the Southern Center for Human Rights, Hatley was released from the Cook County jail in south Georgia after his hearing. Last June, Hatley was imprisoned by the court for failing to make necessary payments to support his alleged son.

His attorney, Sarah Geraghty, filed a motion for the release of his client stating that he is a hard-working man that has showed his commitment to paying what was owed to the court even using

his unemployment checks to ensure the funds were repaid.

The child in question stemmed from a relationship that Hatley had with Essie Lee Morrison when she became pregnant and birthed a son. Morrison told him that the child was his, but the relatio0nship came to an end after the child was born.

When her son turned 2 she applied for public support for her son and under Georgia law it is established that the state has the ability to seek the parent that is not the actual guardian of the child. As a result, Hatley made payments to the state for 13 years.

In 2000, however, questions arose to whether the child was actually his biological son and through DNA testing Hatley learned that the child was not his own, according to court documents. Although this new knowledge ceased any further payments that would be owed to the court, Hatley was still ordered to pay back $16,000 to the state that he owed before presenting the new findings to the court.

Although he tried to make payments, certain variables placed him behind bars. In 2006 he was placed in prison when he fell behind in payments which could have been due to him being unemployed at the time.

Hatley can be considered a victim of circumstances. His attorney at that time, Latesha Bradley, stated the only reason he would have to continue with the back payments even though it was evident that the child was not his, he had signed a consent agreement with the child support offices and the court agreed that he would be held accountable for the time that he believed that was his son.

After being released and making payments again he found himself jobless again in 2008 and even became homeless. As a result he was jailed again for failure of payments.

Hell, speaking of child support, Nas might need to take a lesson and make sure everything is correct before you start dealing with the same problem.