Child Support Verdict That I Don't Get

Dr. Cheese · #1 03-12-2009, 08:30 AM

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/12/sp...l/12henry.html

The NY Times is running a story on former running back Travis Henry who is in and out of jail over child support. He has nine children by nine women, and now he is bankrupt. On top of that he is facing drug charges.

I want to make it clear, I do not feel sorry for Travis Henry. After a kid or two, the man should have invested heavily in condoms or porn and lotion. He also should have gotten some financial advice while he had some money instead of gambling on drug running once he was broke. That said, I see no point in keeping a father in jail because "he should have managed his money," or refusing to lower child support payments for a man who can clearly no longer afford to make them. Does the system want Henry to make a financial contribution to his children, or does it just want to punish him for failing to restrain Mr. Happy? If that is the case, the mothers, who were clearly seeing dollars when they slept with him, need some punishment too.

Phalex · #2 03-12-2009, 08:47 AM

The guy is a dumbass, apparently a broke dumbass, but a dumbass nonetheless.

I'm reminded of the old saying about squeezing blood from a stone however.

Relic · #3 03-12-2009, 08:49 AM

Tough call on this one.. I keep flip-flopping as I read the article. My first reaction is "don't do the crime if you can't do the time", but then again, you're absolutely right - if the support payments are not going to be lowered and the guy's in prison, he's even of less use to his kids..
This just totally sucks though - it's not just the money...here are 9 (!!) freaking kids without "dad" being around to toss them in the air, wrestle with them, etc etc.
I don't know if I pass the blame solely on him, I'm sure at least some (most?all?) of these women were figuring that they'd lock him in with a kid and life the good life.
I feel for the kids, I really do.

Jeff K · #4 03-12-2009, 08:52 AM

Well, with 9 kids by age 30, you'd think he would have learned something by child #4 or 5. I see your point, Doc, but I'm sure those women feel they're entitled to some help. He's never been around to help raise them. If he truly is broke, you can't get blood from a stone. Sad situation all around.

One thing that jumped out from the article was when he said, “Knock on wood, or something, I’m blessed not to have AIDS. That never crossed my mind.” All of his "romantic" conquests are similarly blessed not to have AIDS. How can you be that prolific and refuse to wear condoms?!

CrispyDelicious · #5 03-12-2009, 08:52 AM

MakiSupaStar · #6 03-12-2009, 08:58 AM

Here's a guy that has created a personal hell for himself. Hell in prison. Hell outside of prison. I think a big part of his problem is money management. This seems to be a recurring theme with NFL players.

bass player 48 · #7 03-12-2009, 08:59 AM

It's simple.

1)You take whatever this guy makes per year (after taxes) and divide by 10. Each child's mother gets 1/10 and the father get's 1/10.

2)If he can't pay his child support, he owes it.

3)If he has drug charges, he should do whatever jail time you and I would do if guilty of the same thing. He shouldn't treated any different for being a celebrity.

4)Child support while being locked up? Yeah, that sucks (two time loser) - See number 2 (he owes it)

pointbass · #8 03-12-2009, 09:09 AM

It's simply unimaginable to me that men father children and then fail to provide for them. Yes, the mother may be an equal loser, but it's guys like Travis Henry that make the entire court system so severly biased against men in cases like this.

This jerk wasn't providing any support before jail, so what makes anyone think that he'll all of a sudden begin stepping up to his responsibilties if he isn't behind bars? He can spend a quarter million on bling but he can pay his child support? He drives 3 cars and the kids aren't getting any support?

Lock his dumb *ss up ... those kids will be no worse off with him in jail, seems like he doesn't do a thing for them, anyway ...

willgroove2 · #9 03-12-2009, 09:37 AM

He can't pay what he owes so the should be repercussions however; Back in my '20's I hung out with a number of pro athlete's socially. To watch women throw themselves at them was fascinating. I'm talking beautiful,in some cases educated women who would go to any means to hook up with one of these guy's. But the part i never understood particularity with football players;their careers are short on average (I read somewhere the average length of a running backs career is 4 years)so they are only going to be making millions for a relatively short time and are spending the money often as soon as they get it. So these women are counting on child support on a income that going to go away quickly,now you have a 5-6 year old kid and are not getting that 3-4 grand a month that you got at first.

Dr. Cheese · #10 03-12-2009, 09:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by willgroove2

He can't pay what he owes so the should be repercussions however; Back in my '20's I hung out with a number of pro athlete's socially. To watch women throw themselves at them was fascinating. I'm talking beautiful,in some cases educated women who would go to any means to hook up with one of these guy's. But the part i never understood particularity with football players;their careers are short on average (I read somewhere the average length of a running backs career is 4 years)so they are only going to be making millions for a relatively short time and are spending the money often as soon as they get it. So these women are counting on child support on a income that going to go away quickly,now you have a 5-6 year old kid and are not getting that 3-4 grand a month that you got at first.

You hit the nail on the head. Many women need to check themselves. A tailback is not Bill Gates; a woman having baby by a NFL star is probably not set for life. As for Travis Henry being in jail, he does deserve it for the drugs, but frankly, men who owe child support need to be in some kind of work program to generate income for their kids. I don't want to pay for Henry and his kids too!

LowDown Hal · #11 03-12-2009, 10:37 AM

I just hope they remember to neuter him while they have him.....

pointbass · #12 03-12-2009, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr. Cheese

You hit the nail on the head. Many women need to check themselves. A tailback is not Bill Gates; a woman having baby by a NFL star is probably not set for life. As for Travis Henry being in jail, he does deserve it for the drugs, but frankly, men who owe child support need to be in some kind of work program to generate income for their kids. I don't want to pay for Henry and his kids too!

Doc, you're already (indirectly) paying for those kids, because he wasn't when he was running free. There is no way to ensure that he'll start paying for them if he's not locked up, short of a complete seizure of his potential earnings .... last I looked drug runners weren't filling out a 1040 form.

I agree that it's a total drag to have to pay for that idiot to be in the can AND pay for his kids, as well (assuming that they're on some form of gov't support, although that isn't expressed in the article). He's a bad cat and it's a bad situation, period ... the kids are the ones taking the hit here .....

hbarcat · #13 03-12-2009, 11:24 AM

I think this is a perfect example of the often illogical nature of our legal system in the U.S.. Use a certain type of drug, get a slap on the wrist. Use a slightly different type of drug, get counseling. Do yet another type of drug and get mandatory long term prison.

Or in the case of the civil courts and family law, it's almost arbitrary what happens to your biological children based on marital status, income, residence etc.. and you may get vastly different results depending on who the judge is or (more importantly) who you are and what your social standing in the community happens to be.

It seems that neither practicality nor fairness have much to do with any of it.

Dr. Cheese · #14 03-12-2009, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pointbass

Doc, you're already (indirectly) paying for those kids, because he wasn't when he was running free. There is no way to ensure that he'll start paying for them if he's not locked up, short of a complete seizure of his potential earnings .... last I looked drug runners weren't filling out a 1040 form.

I agree that it's a total drag to have to pay for that idiot to be in the can AND pay for his kids, as well (assuming that they're on some form of gov't support, although that isn't expressed in the article). He's a bad cat and it's a bad situation, period ... the kids are the ones taking the hit here .....

Of course, I understand that society pays for him and his kids already. I would just feel better about if Henry were providing something in return for the money. I agree that the kids are the biggest losers. I truly loved my father, and I really enjoy being a father to my children too. I just think that the incarceration for non-support is a dead end that may make us feel good because it punishes poor behavior, but I just don't feel it leads to anything but another generation of boys and girls who make bad choices once they hit puberty.

There needs to be a way to drill home the message of parental responsibility early on to young fathers. I know this is heading into political territory, so I won't push it any further.

tycobb73 · #15 03-12-2009, 01:43 PM

the situation I don't get.

Man is listed on birth certificate. It is found out years later through DNA he is not the father. He divorces the women. He is still ordered to pay chilld support.

Dr. Cheese · #16 03-12-2009, 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tycobb73

the situation I don't get.

Man is listed on birth certificate. It is found out years later through DNA he is not the father. He divorces the women. He is still ordered to pay chilld support.

The rationale is usually that the child has bonded to the father and sees the "Dad" as a father figure. Frankly, I think the mother in such cases should be subject to civil and criminal penalties for fraud if she knowingly mistated paternity.

Gosh, I sound like a misogynist on this thread!

Oh well, these are my honest opinions.

GregC · #17 03-12-2009, 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr. Cheese

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/12/sp...l/12henry.html

The NY Times is running a story on former running back Travis Henry who is in and out of jail over child support. He has nine children by nine women, and now he is bankrupt. On top of that he is facing drug charges.

I want to make it clear, I do not feel sorry for Travis Henry. After a kid or two, the man should have invested heavily in condoms or porn and lotion. He also should have gotten some financial advice while he had some money instead of gambling on drug running once he was broke. That said, I see no point in keeping a father in jail because "he should have managed his money," or refusing to lower child support payments for a man who can clearly no longer afford to make them. Does the system want Henry to make a financial contribution to his children, or does it just want to punish him for failing to restrain Mr. Happy? If that is the case, the mothers, who were clearly seeing dollars when they slept with him, need some punishment too.

Lots of good thoughts in this thread already, Dr. Cheese, so I'll just say I disagree with your last sentence pretty strongly. He fathered two children before he even got to college, if I'm reading that story right--there's no way those women could assume he was going to make millions someday. And he fathered two more before he was even drafted. As for his claims that he was tricked in some cases--well, maybe he was, but I'm certainly not going to take his word for it. Of course he's going to say that with pending court cases.

Finally, and most importantly, these nine women are already raising his children without financial support from him (while he was out spending like a fool). That's one hell of a penalty already.

I'm torn on what you do with deadbeat dads. I have a friend who had a child at the age of 15 and broke up with the father a couple years later. He's been a big-time deadbeat; never holds a job for long. They're thrown him in jail at times--when he comes out, he still doesn't work and lives with his mother. Meanwhile, she was constantly stressed out for years about money while raising the boy, and had to moonlight for a while in a strip club (hated it, too). (She's now with a good guy who's pretty well off, fortunately.) Yeah, they both made a mistake, but it's easy to see which one of them has paid more for it. And that SOB might as well rot in jail.

Dr. Cheese · #18 03-12-2009, 06:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GregC

Lots of good thoughts in this thread already, Dr. Cheese, so I'll just say I disagree with your last sentence pretty strongly. He fathered two children before he even got to college, if I'm reading that story right--there's no way those women could assume he was going to make millions someday. And he fathered two more before he was even drafted. As for his claims that he was tricked in some cases--well, maybe he was, but I'm certainly not going to take his word for it. Of course he's going to say that with pending court cases.

Finally, and most importantly, these nine women are already raising his children without financial support from him (while he was out spending like a fool). That's one hell of a penalty already.

I'm torn on what you do with deadbeat dads. I have a friend who had a child at the age of 15 and broke up with the father a couple years later. He's been a big-time deadbeat; never holds a job for long. They're thrown him in jail at times--when he comes out, he still doesn't work and lives with his mother. Meanwhile, she was constantly stressed out for years about money while raising the boy, and had to moonlight for a while in a strip club (hated it, too). (She's now with a good guy who's pretty well off, fortunately.) Yeah, they both made a mistake, but it's easy to see which one of them has paid more for it. And that SOB might as well rot in jail.

As I said before, I do not feel sorry for Travis Henry. He repeatedly showed terrible judgement, and he is paying and will pay for it. I do believe that at least some of his sex partners knew who he was, and probably thought about a payday. That might well have been true when he in high school. Guys who have the eye of pro scouts are known by everybody in their neighborhood, young women are no exception.

Dr. Cheese · #19 03-15-2009, 07:23 AM

ESPN Outside the Lines featured Travis Henry today, and it showed him in a much better life than I expected. He was stupid to have so many children by so many women, but he does seem to be a man who at least seems to be aware of responsibility, and he does spend time with his children.

The episode also features the mothers of athlete's children. I was too hard on the women in a few posts, but I still believe that a percentage of women do seek out athletes for a payday, however, a young man needs to think twice before jumping on a woman because, as former NBA player Denis Scott said, "Once she is pregenant the decision is out of his hands." In other words, don't get mad because you are broke because of your poor judgement.

bluewine · #20 03-15-2009, 07:39 AM

Cheese,

I guess I feel sorry for all young Atheletes and Muscians that come into big money at a young age.

At that age some have limited education and life experience. Most of these people don't even know the basics, like who your friends are. The answer is easy "you don't have any" not even the guy you grew up with.

Bottom line it's a recipe for disaster and this guy sure sounds like he's in one. What you propose would be more in line with fairness, not law.

blue

The NY Times is running a story on former running back Travis Henry who is in and out of jail over child support. He has nine children by nine women, and now he is bankrupt. On top of that he is facing drug charges.

I want to make it clear, I do not feel sorry for Travis Henry. After a kid or two, the man should have invested heavily in condoms or porn and lotion. He also should have gotten some financial advice while he had some money instead of gambling on drug running once he was broke. That said, I see no point in keeping a father in jail because "he should have managed his money," or refusing to lower child support payments for a man who can clearly no longer afford to make them. Does the system want Henry to make a financial contribution to his children, or does it just want to punish him for failing to restrain Mr. Happy? If that is the case, the mothers, who were clearly seeing dollars when they slept with him, need some punishment too.[/quote]