Via Google News comes the following from South Carolina:
January 18, 2006 - A 58-year-old man who bragged about being a deadbeat dad admits he went to extreme lengths to avoid paying child support. The shock came when the deadbeat dad was found alive.
On March 5, 1979, a family court judge found Johnny Martin to be in contempt of court for failing to pay $4,120 in court-ordered child support payments for two of his children, according to Sheriff James Metts. The judge ordered Martin to pay the money or serve one year in jail at the Lexington County Detention Center. Martin didn't pay. At the detention center, Martin was assigned to be an inmate worker in 1979 and escaped after he was let out to conduct his assigned duties.
A couple of months later, someone, no one knows who, told the family court judge he died. But Tuesday night Martin was found alive and well, just 26 years older, with a mustache. He was in Myrtle Beach with his girlfriend. Lexington County Sheriff James Metts says, "He has admitted to us he faked his death in a bar fight in Alabama." He did that to avoid paying child support, which was $4,000 at the time. Martin was a father to a six and nine year old.
After being informed about new facts in the case, a Lexington County family court judge on Tuesday re-opened the case against Martin for unpaid child support and issued a bench warrant for Martin's arrest for lying about his death to avoid paying child support. 11th Circuit Family Court Judge Richard W. Chewning, III, ruled in the bench warrant issued for Martin that the case against Martin for unpaid child support was "previously dismissed under false pretenses."
His current wife, Phyllis Martin, told WIS in a phone interview he boasted about being a deadbeat dad, "He just bragged that he never paid child support. There was no ... man in a dress [referring to the judge's robes] that was going to tell him what to do."
So just how did he get caught? Last week, Martin's first wife, the mother of his kids, saw another escapee on television return to jail in Lexington County. She'd heard rumors about her ex-husband and called the sheriff's department.
The sheriff says for 20 years, Martin lived in Myrtle Beach, ran an auto repair shop and remarried three times. Martin was arrested at his home on Avenue South where he lived with a girlfriend.
He uses his real name and, even now, deputies say he insists he's not going to pay. Sheriff Metts describes Martin, "Very arrogant, very arrogant. He was not taken down very easily. A scuffle ensued to arrest him." The sheriff says Martin also told them there is no jail big enough or tough enough to hold him.
Right now, he's being held at the Lexington County Detention Center. He faces charges for the escape and could be have to pay back more than $30,000 in child support. Martin will remain in jail while awaiting a hearing in Lexington County Family Court on Friday, January 20. During the hearing, a family court judge will determine what sanctions Martin will face.
"Johnny Martin is the ultimate dead-beat dad, faking his own death to avoid paying money to support his young children who were living in Lexington County," Metts said. "We have worked closely with the family court to ensure that Martin was brought to justice in Lexington County for his unprecedented efforts to avoid making court-ordered child support payments."
A magistrate on Wednesday morning set bond for Martin at $1 million on the escape
