A major part of a divorce decree for parents in Massachusetts is the child support order. A parent who fails to pay child support faces being held in contempt and possibly faces time in jail for habitual lack of payment. Recently, a bounty hunter in Pennsylvania crafted a ruse to lure a parent who failed to pay child support and who was living out of state to return to the jurisdiction where the child support order could be enforced. For this father, the promise of a role in a made-up Jennifer Aniston movie was more attractive than providing support to his children.
For 19 years, the 40-year-old father failed to pay child support payments and instead of coming forward to make the payments, the father eluded the system by living in Hawaii. In total the father owed more than $43,000, but the father’s former partner and a bounty hunter put together a plan to lure the father back to Pennsylvania where the child support order could more easily be enforced.
Knowing that the 40-year-old was still hopeful about his music career, the bounty-hunter contacted the father over Facebook. Under the guise of a movie producer, the bounty hunter falsely said that one of his talent agents had spotted the father playing a guitar in a cafe and wanted the father to appear in a new romantic comedy featuring Jennifer Anniston entitled, “Banished from Brooklyn.”
Even though the story was false, the father let his dreams get the best of him and boarded a plane to Pennsylvania. When the plane landed, the 40-year-old was met by cameras, but the cameras were not a part of the fake story. The cameras were there to record the man’s arrest as a part of a reality television show on parents who skirt their duties.
The father was arrested at the airport, then spent 42 days in jail and is now on probation. While the use of a bounty hunter is probably not required for most family law issues, an experienced divorce attorney can help ensure that a former spouse follows a divorce decree.
Source: Today, “Jennifer Anniston Movie Role Lures Deadbeat Dad Home to Face $43K Bill, Arrest,” Randee Dawn, July 9, 2012