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Citizen's Guide to United States
Federal Exploitation Laws
Child
Support
The federal Child Support Recovery Act, amended and renamed the Deadbeat
Parents Punishment Act in 1998, criminalizes, in certain circumstances, the
wilful failure to pay a past due child support
obligation. See 18 U.S.C. § 228. Federal jurisdiction over child support is
limited in both Acts. Where a person has been ordered by a court to pay
child support for a child who lives in another state, it is a federal crime
if that person wilfully fails to pay a past due
amount for more than 1 year or that exceeds $5,000. See 18 U.S.C. § 228(a)(1). The penalty for this offense is a fine and a
maximum prison sentence of 6 months. If the deadbeat parent fails to pay a
past due amount for more than 2 years or that exceeds $10,000, the penalty
is increased to a fine and a maximum prison sentence of 2 years. See 18
U.S.C. § 228(a)(3) Federal law also prohibits a
person obligated to pay child support from crossing state lines or fleeing
the country with the intent to avoid paying child support that has either
been past due for more than 1 year or exceeds $5,000, the penalty for which
is a fine and maximum prison sentence of 2 years. See 18 U.S.C. § 228(a)(2).
All other
child support issues, including those that relate to the amount of the
support or a failure to pay, are matters of state law and should be
inquired of with the relevant state agency and law enforcement authority.
[Add links for all state health and human service agencies.]
Similarly,
matters of child custody and visitation are matters of state law, not
federal law, and are governed by the relevant state family court system and
human services agency. With the exception of international parental
kidnapping (discussed in a separate section), interference with custody or
visitation should be addressed to state or local law enforcement
authorities or a state judicial officer.
U.S. Department of Justice,
Criminal Division ° Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS)
1400 New York Avenue,
6th Floor ° Washington,
D.C. 20530
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