25 area ‘deadbeat’ parents arrested for non-payment of child support

Twenty-five deadbeat parents found themselves behind bars last Tuesday shortly after the sun rose. And Lafourche and Terrebonne law enforcement authorities are on the hunt for 600 more mothers and fathers who have failed to pay owed child support.

Last Tuesday’s arrests accounted for more than $1 million in owed support, according to authorities.

Nearly 80 sheriff’s deputies and representatives of the district attorney’s offices in Lafourche and Terrebonne teamed with two state Support Enforcement Services officers for the 8 a.m. roundup.

In Lafourche Parish, 14 people were arrested, accounting for $171,158, in back child support. Authorities arrested 11 people in Terrebonne Parish.

The Lafourche Parish arrests include:

• Ricky L. Jackson, 1231 St. Charles St., Thibodaux;

• Derek Adams, 531B Frederick Drive, Thibodaux;

• Juvaughn Davis, 301 N. 13th St., Thibodaux;

• John J. Ballard Sr., 135 Notre Dame St., Thibodaux;

• Erica Poindexter, 704 Williams St., Raceland;

• Fred T. Bryant, 143 Johnny Dufrene Drive, Raceland;

• Kerry Smith, 421 Dantin St., Raceland;

• Francis Griffin, 114 W. 220th St., Golden Meadow;

• Kathleen Sims, 341 Triple Oaks, Raceland;

• Greg Fonseca, 133 Brien St., Gray;

• James Gaither, 618 St. Louis St., Raceland;

• Larry Duncan, 200 Ridgeway St., Thibodaux;

• Hiedonald Davis, 324 Triple Oaks, Raceland;

• Alex Griffin III, 373 Brocato Lane, Raceland.

Terrebonne had 11 arrests including:

• Kenneth Boudreaux, 3182 Highway 316, Gray;

• Ron Celestine Sr., 1047 Lafayette St., Houma;

• David Clement, 1114 A. Point St., Houma;

• Tyrone Coleman, 180 Smith Lane, Houma;

• Robert Lank, 317 Ruth St., Houma;

• Stafford Mason, 2620 Daniel Turner Trail, Houma;

• Rendell Rickerson Sr., 126 Red St., Gray;

• Lance Rockwood Sr., 102 Odelia St., Houma;

• Robert Steward, 1300 Laban Ave., Apt. 148, Houma;

• Glenn Verrett, 285 Grand Caillou Road, Houma;

• Teressa Wells, 142 Shirley St., Houma.

As parents were booked and transported to the Lafourche and Terrebonne Parish Detention Centers, Lafourche Parish District Attorney Cam Morvant and Terrebonne Parish District Attorney Jo Waitz Jr. held a joint press conference at the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office Training Center.

“We are here today to continue to send a clear message to the parents who do not want to support their children that we are going to continue to do this on a daily basis and we are going to continue to pursue you,” Morvant said.

“It’s a successful operation, We are going to continue to bear down on the deadbeat parents to make sure they honor their obligation as parents,” Waitz added. “We are going to make these parents pay their child support so that the taxpayers and the citizens as a whole won’t be taking care of this burden.”

This is the eighth roundup in as many years the two parishes have held. Morvant said Lafourche Parish has more than 5,000 active cases and nearly 200 outstanding warrants for deadbeat parents.

“We are actively pursing these people to collect the back child support. We will continue to do this,” he said.

Terrebonne Parish is on track to collect $8 million in child support payments, Waitz said. To date, the parish has collected $6.7 million, with 433 outstanding warrants.

“Ever since, the two parishes started getting involved in these roundups back in February of 2003 our efforts have been up to par,” Morvant said.

Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes have participated in all state, regional and national roundups, the district attorneys said.

“You need to support your children. There are too many things that can happen to children as they grow up if they are not receiving the proper support from their parents,” he said.

Both district attorney’s offices stressed the importance of not getting behind in child support payments.

“If you are on our list, we are going to find you. The news media will publish the list of outstanding warrants that we have not been able to pick up. When you see your name, you need to turn yourself in. It’s very simple, get on a [payment] plan and get up-to-date,” Morvant said.

The payment plan allows state and local judges as well as local and state child support representatives to work with individuals on payment of child support.

“If they owe “X” number of dollars in back child support, then, we will put them on a plan where they start paying their current child support obligations and a specific amount that they can meet in their budget to catch up on the back child support,” he said. “That’s a way of staying out of jail. If they are willing to work with us, we are willing to work with them.”

Morvant said the public should understand that by the time a warrant is issued for an arrest, state and local officials have exhausted all options.

Law enforcement authorities process parents arrested in last week’s “deadbeat” roundup. Fourteen Lafourche and 11 Terrebonne parents in the arrears for child support were arrested. * Photo courtesy of the LAFOURCHE SHERIFF’S OFFICE