(La Porte County, IN) - A La Porte area man is facing possible jail time for falling way behind in his child support payments. Robert Reed, 47, has been charged in La Porte Circuit Court with Non-Support of a Child, a Level 6 felony.

 

According to court documents, in July of 2016, Reed was ordered to pay $141 a week in child support.  By the end of 2023, he owed just over $43,000.

 

He could face anywhere from a six-month to 30-month sentence.

 

La Porte County Prosecutor Sean Fagan said his office has been aggressive in going after people for non-payment of child support, his primary reason being not so much to put people in jail because that could hurt their future employment and chances of making due on their child support debts.

 

Instead, it’s to enforce an order from the court being ignored to the point where it’s a crime and, hopefully, people, once jailed, will be motivated enough to start making due on their child support obligations under the watchful eye of the court.

 

Fagan said he has witnessed child support violators, once arrested, somehow find the cash to pay down their large debts entirely as well as what's owed over time.

 

“As long as money is being passed from parent to child through whatever means that’s really what we’re trying to do,” he said.