A man in Texas overpaid on his child support payments. Despite this, he ended up behind bars thanks to a clerical error. The story does have a positive resolution for the man, at least for now, as he has been released from jail once the mistake was identified and the truth was revealed.
The clerical error in question actually centered around his employer, as the money that he owned for child support was supposed to be garnished from his checks. While this should have been happening consistently, it was only happening every now and then. As a result, he accidentally ended up owing about $3,000, and he then turned himself in to the police when he found out that they were looking for him.
In addition to turning himself in, he apparently paid even more than he owed to catch back up on the payments.
When the story originally broke, his lawyer said it garnered a lot of attention. However, the story of his release now that things have been cleared up, which happened on the second of July, hasn’t gotten as much press.
His lawyer did say that one huge positive thing to come out of all of this was that the man and his son were schedule to spend all of July together. Since he was released on the second, he could get his son right away, so the error did not make him miss much of that time.
Child support can be very confusing, and individuals who think that they are facing charges unfairly need to know what legal options they have.
Source: The Root, “Texas Man Who Overpaid Child Support Is Released From Prison” Breanna Edwards, Jul. 28, 2014
