Juan Torres...
is a family man with a wife and two little
children. His daughter is five and his son is four years of age. However
he had a previous marriage resulting in paying child support for two,
a 17 year old and a 19 year old daughter. He is waiting for his ex-wife
to sign off on the 19 year old, since support does not automatically
just drop on the 18th birthday.
He has been paying support for over ten years. He was supposed to pay
$90 a week. Unfortunately Juan lost his job in March 2004. He was financially
struggling until he finally located another job in the end of May. Because
he missed a court date while he was looking for a job and was indigent
and couldn't pay during those unemployed months, he is doing a six month
jail sentence. He was arrested June 30, 2004. If he wants to be back
with his family he could bond out with $2000.00 and a commitment of another
$1000.00 in 90 days. Where is the justice to the four and five year olds
that lost both their Daddy and their Mommy, because now she has the full
responsibility to support them.
The reason that was given for Juan's sentence was because they assumed
he didn't have a job. Before arresting him, they never checked if he
had a job. He notified the Judge about his job he had, but never gets
a response.