Wayne County's" Believe It Or Not"

by G.A.J.
(Monroe county N.Y.)

I pay $700 a month for one child. I keep up with my payments to the mother(the child does not benefit from payments). This is not monitored by the state of N.Y. or the County of Monroe. All that's important is that the child does not become a ward of the state. The mother, due to addiction already is.

She has legal custody of the child even though the baby was born also addicted and placed with the state into foster care. The state assigned the child a GAL(Guardian Ad Litem)while the mother did her time in rehab. I tried to get custody at this point but was shot down by the County Magistrate. It was decided that the mother deserved another shot even though children from another relationship had also been removed. The proceedings lasted forever.

Time and time again I was forced into appearing in court with an attourney. For what? No one can say. Attourney or not I had lost way before it all started as far as this Magistrate was concerned. First of all, I was not the first guy named as the father. There were two others before me. I happened to be the only one working. I adjudicated myself by being isolated and told to sign an acknowledgement by two welfare case workers that I had shown up in court. The judge did not explain what that meant.

By the time I found out that the child to wit may not even be mine I was already being forced onto child support payments. Alot of which was in arrears. The petition I filed for DNA testing was shot down by the same Magistrate and I was thrown out of court. I have copies of the court document telling me to !@*& off. Too little too late sir! DNA testing denied because I couldn't prove the child was not mine. Not enough proof of infidelity during the relationship. This is legaly documented I am not lying I have the court papers as my witness.

There are other men that earn more and have to pay less for multiple children. The state does not pay for one child on welfare what I pay for one on my budget. They have one idea of what a child on Social Services reqiures to live and a different one for me. Wayne County N.Y. will never pay $700 a month for one child but they make sure that I do. Wilst I go to jail. I do not have contact with the child. I never did because the mother kept changing addresses more than she did underware. Plus I live over 11/2hrs drive into the next county.

It has been 8yrs. since this childs birth, introducing myself now as the father would probably be traumatic for the kid. Besides, the last time I saw the mother, she said the child had a father that loved her. True nightmare in N.Y. State.