A Scottsdale business man was arrested on April 27 and ordered to jail until he can come up with $6,000 toward his child support arrears. According to court records, the total amount for what he owes in child support payments in Arizona is likely to reach $30,000. He was taken into custody inside a Maricopa County courtroom in Mesa.
The judge had originally given the man two weeks to pay the $6,000. Upon his failure to do so, the judge has now held him in contempt of court. In those proceedings, the man claimed the amount he owed was in error, though no details of any purported error were disclosed in a news article about the court proceedings. He asked for an extension of his time to pay, as well as for an installment plan for periodic $500 payments, but the judge ordered that he be incarcerated.
In addition to claimed child support arrears in Arizona, court records indicate he owes another $52,000 in child support obligations in the state of Washington. Reportedly, he was married four times and has eight children. Additional, he apparently has a lengthy history of consumer-fraud allegations in Arizona and at least seven other states, and was said to owe more than $26 million in court judgments based on fraud allegations.
Non-custodial parents typically have financial obligations ordered by a court for child support. Those who find that they do not have the funds to pay their child support obligations due to job loss, medical expenses, or other reasons may petition the appropriate court for a reduction in the ordered payment based upon a substantial change in circumstances. As is illustrated in this Arizona court case, failing to pay court ordered child support could result in serving jail time and additional legal problems.
Source: AZcentral.com, “Scottsdale businessman John Common jailed after child-support hearing,” Robert Anglen, April 27, 2012
