MAHONING COUNTY Authorities crack down on deadbeats

The 10-hour crackdown started at 6 a.m. Tuesday.
By JoANNE VIVIANO
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Brenda McLeod shook her head as she watched deputy sheriffs arrest a 20-year-old man for failing to pay child support.
He smiled as he was led out of his East Indianola Avenue home, referring to officers as "my friends" and shouting "God bless America."
The father was one of several arrested in Mahoning County on Tuesday as part of a statewide crackdown on parents who fail to pay court-ordered child support.
McLeod, a supervisor at Mahoning County Child Support Enforcement Agency, rode with a team of officers who scoured homes in the city, trying to serve the nonsupport warrants as well as other outstanding warrants. Also riding along was supervisor Toni Tablack.
McLeod stood on the street as police arrested the man, watching as friends and family members complained or laughed.
"Do they think feeding a child is not important?" she asked. "Do they think taking care of a child is not important?"
Serving warrants: Maj. Michael Budd of the sheriff's department said the sweep was part of an effort to serve more than 250 active warrants for a variety of offenses from county area courts, common pleas court and Youngstown Municipal Court. Over the years, 7,000 outstanding warrants had stacked up in the county. Through projects such as these, 3,000 have been served, Budd said.
Mahoning County was one of 27 counties in the state participating in the crackdown, an effort of the state Department of Job and Family Services, county child support enforcement agencies and the Buckeye State Sheriffs Association.
In Mahoning County, 13 teams were devoted to the 10-hour crackdown that started at 6 a.m., Budd said. Among them were 12 cruisers, 36 officers and two prisoner transport vans. They made 24 arrests. Four were of parents who had not paid child support. Another six were on felony warrants. The rest were on failure to appear warrants for various misdemeanor charges.
Budd said 15 of the warrants deputies had attempted to serve Tuesday were for county residents who had not paid support. An additional 18 nonsupport cases involving parents who live outside the state were also being tracked down. Those warrants would be served by officers in those states and parents extradited to Ohio.
Penalty: In Ohio, the maximum penalty in a criminal nonsupport case is 18 months' imprisonment and a $5,000 fine. Aside from criminal action, a parent who fails to pay support can be issued a warrant through juvenile or domestic relations courts, Tablack said.
The goal, she said, is to get money for children and the parents who are rearing them. Often, custodial parents face hardships when their children don't receive support.
After the publicity of past crackdowns, Tablack said, many delinquent parents have contacted her office in an effort to become current on payments.
"We're out to get them now," she said. "Hopefully, this gives them some incentive to get out working and paying. ... A lot of people don't take child support seriously. It is a serious problem."
This is the fifth annual statewide crackdown on parents who have not paid child support. In annual roundups from 1997 to 2000, police across Ohio made 600 arrests.