BY B. G. Gregg
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Hamilton County Prosecutor Joseph Deters is targeting 52 of Hamilton County's worst child-support shirkers, and Andrew L. Billings is at the top of the list.
Mr. Billings owes about $50,000 of the $980,407 total owed in child support by the 52 parents, all indicted by a Hamilton County grand jury Monday.
Mr. Deters said the next step is to round up the parents, some of whom are already in jail and many of whom are living outside the county and state.
Mr. Deters announced last month that he would soon indict Hamilton County's 50 worst delinquent parents, hoping many would come forward and make arrangements to pay.
The ''worst'' designation was concocted by his office and by those who work in the Child Support Enforcement Agency. Mr. Deters said there are people in the county who owe more than some of those indicted, but they were not targeted - either because they had recently made good-faith efforts to pay, they don't have the means to pay or their failure to pay had not yet reached the level necessary for felony prosecution. Another factor was cooperation from the custodial parent, he said.
''These cases, in part, were targeted because they've been warned time and time again,'' he said. ''. . . We're more concerned with those that have the means to pay but thumb their nose at the system.''
Carol Watson, a section chief with the county's Department of Human Services, which contains the support enforcement agency, said those indicted also were targeted because the county could not find another way to collect. ''There weren't any assets to attach, and we were unable to find them and get them into civil court for a contempt trial,'' she said.
State law provides that a parent who has not made child-support payments for at least 26 weeks in the past two years can be charged with a felony. Those who owe dating back more than two years would be sentenced under the old law, and face 1 1/2 years in prison and a $2,500 fine per child. The penalties under the new law are one year in prison and a $2,500 fine per child.
Repeat offenders can be sentenced to 1 1/2 years in prison and a $5,000 fine per child. Five of the 52 who were indicted - Bruce Cope, Andre D. Fannon, Ralph Mathes, John R. Roberts and Gary A. Stanforth - are repeat offenders. Ages and addresses were not available.
Counties have used a variety of efforts - criminal indictments, wanted posters, pictures on television or in newspapers, withholding business licenses, and using private collection companies - the past few years in an effort to increase child support collection, which, while improving, has been abysmal.
For example, in 1997, Hamilton County's Child Support Enforcement Agency collected at least partial support in about 23 percent of cases. The county had 103,000 cases and collected $129 million. Mr. Deters, who is running for state treasurer, has announced similar mass indictments several times in the past five years. Previously, 565 people who owed slightly more than $10 million were indicted.
Mr. Deters said 21 of those indicted in the past paid their support in full, totaling about $300,000. Sixty percent of the rest were sent to prison, he said.
''Someone is paying for these kids, whether it is the government through some kind of aid, or the grandparents having to step in,'' he said.
Traditionally, prosecutors and judges have given parents who don't pay support numerous breaks because throwing them in jail would make it even more difficult to collect.
Judi Glenn, a spokeswoman for the local chapter of the Association for Children for the Enforcement of Support (ACES), said her chapter believes that most of the parents who haven't paid for that long will not pay without a trip to jail.
''We've been after his office to step up and do more indictments,'' she said. ''They're only picking a small percentage of the ones that qualify for criminal prosecution.''
She said sending people to jail sends a message.
''It's the ripple effect,'' she said. ''It gets the word out they can't play the game as much.''
Here are the names of the parents who were indicted, how many dependents they have and how much they owe:
Frederick L. Adams, one, $18,102
Andrew L. Billings, two, $50,810
Leroy L. Boone Jr., one, $19,519
Bonnie J. Broach, one, $14,678
Daniel L. Burkhart, one, $8,640
Arthur L. Cain, one, $16,271
Lawrence A. Cain, two, $25,397
Billy E. Cook, one, $8,859.
Charles K. Cook, two, $33,015
Bruce Cope, one, $23,691
Damian F. Eldemire, two, $23,805
Christopher Elliot, two, $21,522
Andre D. Fannon, five, $41,014
Eric R. Fields, one, $7,250
Timothy L. Fowler, one, $18,228
Ricky Grove, one, $9,626.
Alan Harris, one, $22,250
Frederick Held, one, $18,634
Anthony Honaker, one, $9,547
David E. James, one, $12,220
Jamie N. Johnson, two, $5,361
Levy C. Johnson Jr., two, $18,063
Malachi C. Johnson Jr., one, $24,613
Douglas A. Jones, two, $30,622.
Raymond Jones, two, $28,189
William H. King Jr., one, $13,415
John E. Knott, one, $6,434
Ronald W. Lemon, one, $15,927
Robert F. Marquette, two, $15,292
Ralph Mathes, one, $25,758
Donald S. McArthur, one, $8,769
Gregory G. McCollum, one, $4,184.
Luis E. Reyes, one, $11,582
Hershel R. Rivers, one, $35,229
John R. Roberts, one, $7,479
Michael J. Ryan, one, $22,370
Terrance M. Sims, two, $17,398
Robert J. Slusher, two, $24,624
Henry T. Smith, one, $17,275
Gary A. Stanforth, one, $24,640.
Roy Sturgill, one, $8,180
Darren Terry, one, $16,879
Brian E. Todd, two, $10,565
Eric B. Trader, one, $12,155
Randall L. Trenkamp, three, $36,191
Daniel W. Unwin, one, $16,419
Carl J. Wheeler Jr., two, $7,825
Johnny White Jr., three, $13,962.
Diondre P. Whitehead, two, $12,244
Allen R. Williams, one, $11,969
Terry D. Withers, one, $27,630
James D. Young, two, $46,149.
