BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) -
Authorities
said a dead beat parent roundup resulted in over 120 arrests and collection on
over $70,000 in payments.
The
Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services reported 126 people
delinquent on their child support payments were arrested in December. Officials
said they owe more than $1.1 million.
The DCFS
said it collected $74,347.37 in payments as a result of the roundup.
Agents said
whenever one of these roundups is conducted, collection officials are at the
jail to collect as much as possible from the parents after they are arrested
and processed.
They added
the parents are then given a court date to set up a new payment schedule.
"Our message is clear," said DCFS Secretary Ruth Johnson. "Failure
to fulfill a court-ordered child support obligation is illegal, and not taking
responsibility for financial obligations to one's children has consequences."
DCFS reported more than $385 million in child support was collected last
year, but nearly $1.2 billion is currently owed by Louisiana's non-custodial
parents.
Officials did not release the names of those arrested.
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