Let Our Family Help Your Family

Facebook photo nets criminal charges in child support rift

On Behalf of | Apr 4, 2013 | Family Law

Some things are better left unsaid. And some photographs are best left untaken, or at least best left off Facebook. Pennsylvania readers may decide that is the lesson a 23-year-old man is learning after he was charged with three felony counts for failure to pay child support for his 3-year-old daughter. The criminal charges resulted after investigators found a potentially incriminating photo of the man on his Facebook page.

Authorities say the man has not made one single child support payment. He is obligated to pay $150 monthly pursuant to a court order. He now must face a criminal court and could end up in jail for as many as 11 years if he is convicted of the charges pending against him.

Led to the man’s Facebook page, authorities say they found a photo of the man smiling and laying next to an array of what appear to be a mass of $20 bills. Based on their inspection, authorities obtained a search warrant, and the criminal charges followed. It is not known what other evidence against the man was gathered during the investigation, and he will now have his day in a Wisconsin courtroom to defend himself.

Child support orders are taken seriously in Pennsylvania. Failure to pay can result in an array of enforcement measures, including criminal prosecution. Those custodial parents seeking to collect back due payments may benefit from gaining an understanding of the alternatives available to obtain what is due them. Those noncustodial parents who simply cannot afford the payments ordered may gain by making a formal petition to the court, seeking a modification of future payments based upon documentation of a substantial change in financial circumstances.

Source: Yahoo!, “Facebook Money Pics Bust Dad for Allegedly Dodging Child Support,” Alexa Valiente, March 22, 2013

FindLaw Network