Child support sting conducted

ABBEVILLE - The old Hibernia Bank building in Abbeville, owned by the Police Jury, acted as a holding facility for those who were arrested by the Sherriff’s Department Tuesday and then questioned by the state’s Support Enforcement Service about the child support they owe.

There were 52 arrest warrants to be served by the deputies when they left the Hibernia Building at 6 a.m. The Kaplan, Erath and Delcambre police assisted in making some the arrests in their towns.

According to Vermilion Parish Sheriff Mike Couvillon, Tuesday’s early morning round-up of those individuals failing to meet their child-support requirements was a big success, as 21 of the 52 individuals .

Sheriff Couvillon said that of those individuals picked-up, a total of $8,500 was collected in back child support.

Sheriff Couvillon further stated that those individuals who were not picked-up today will certainly not be forgotten, and said that if you have child support obligations and you are behind, it may be wise to contact Support Enforcement at 262-5532 to make arrangements so you won’t be picked-up in the very near further.

Finally, Sheriff Couvillon said that the following is a list of those 31 individuals which have not met their obligations of child-support.

The deputies brought the men into the old Hibernia Building where they sat and faced Delores Mercer of Support Enforcement Services. She informed each person how much back child support they owed. They were given a phone to try to raise as much money as they could to go toward what they owed. They had until noon Tuesday.

The Vermilion Parish Clerk of Courts office was also at the old Hibernia Building ready to issue the individuals a subpoena for a new court date.

Some men owed anywhere from $1,000 to $46,000 in back child support.

Mercer said the reason the dads don’t pay their child support is because they don’t have jobs. If they did have regular jobs, the state would be able to garnish their wages to pay child support.

According to Sheriff Mike Couvillon, this is the first time his department has conducted a round-up this big for individuals who failed to pay their child support. In the past, his department would conduct a round up for up to 10 individuals. Lack of space in the jail was a reason he could not arrest more, he said.

Support Enforcement Services did a similar round-up in St. Martin Parish and arrested 17 and collected $20,000 for outstanding child support payments. The money collected went to the mothers or guardians of the child.

Here are the names of the people who were arrested Tuesday for back support payments.

Cassie Barnett

Curtis Batiste

Peter Bessard

Morris Campbell

Martin Chambers

Timothy Decuir

Dion Green

Larry Johnson

Brian Jones

Jason Lashare

Christopher Ledet

Eric Levine

Denis Lewis

Bryan Mayneaux

Mark Montgomery

George Petry

Timothy Reaux

Enus Robinson

Tyrone Robinson

Randall Savoy

Samuel Simon

Lambert Soileau

George Solomon

Jude Stubblefield

Leroy suire

Carl Vallot

Fameka Williams

Herman Wimbley

Mitchell Bertrand

Kenneth Derouen

Sidney Meaux

(The Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s Department contributed to this story.)