CHARLESTON, SC NEWS - LIVE 5 WCSC Breaking News, Weather, SportsEconomy lands more deadbeat parents behind bars
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Charles Washington was making good money driving a truck, but when the economy went south, his workload and pay also suffered.
"I couldn't afford to upkeep my household and pay child support at the same original rate," he said.
Washington then got into an accident and found out there was a warrant out for his arrest. "I fell behind and here I am in jail."
A judge gave Washington a one year sentence. He also lost his commercial drivers license. "I want to pay. I can't find a job and with the economy down, it's really really hard," he said.
We found out there are many other deadbeats in the same boat. Jails in the Tri County area are holding more parents who can't pay child support. Take a look for yourself. Twenty two percent of the inmates in the Berkeley County Jail are deadbeats. Twenty one percent in the Dorchester County Jail are there for not paying child support. And sixteen and a half percent of the inmates in the Charleston County Jail are deadbeats.
"It's scary and it's hard to watch because a lot of these people aren't people who don't want to support their children," said family law attorney Beverly Ballinger. Ballinger says people in the same position as Washington need to go back to family court and try to convince a judge to lower the child support payment. "You need to get that order changed to reflect your new circumstances if that's in fact what happened."
That won't help Washington unless he finds a job when he's released from jail. Washington will be released from jail in June after getting credit for good behavior.
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