Court-ordered child support payments are necessary to help the custodial parent care and raise the couple’s children. If a parent fails to pay their court-ordered child support payments, the custodial parent can petition the court to enforce the child support award.
Tyrone Nesby, a former NBA player, was recently sentenced in an Illinois federal court for failure to pay child support. The 34-year-old Illinois native was sentenced to five years’ probation for disregarding his child support obligations. He is also required to pay almost $1 million in amounts he owes to support his children.
Nesby played with the Los Angeles Clippers and the Washington Wizards during his three-year professional career. However, when he began his professional basketball career in 1999, he also began to disregard his child support responsibilities. He was actually accused of failing to pay child support in Nevada, Indiana and Illinois.
Nesby pled guilty and has agreed to pay the unpaid child support in all three states.
The judge who heard the child support case recommended that the NBA player speak to school-aged children in poor areas about the importance of family. Hopefully, Nesby will take this suggestion to heart and will come to understand that the financial support he provides for his children is important and necessary for their care and well-being.
Illinois parents who are struggling to care for their children without the financial support of the other parent should know that help is available. This case exemplifies how court-ordered child support can be enforced through the family law system if a parent fails to make child support payments in Illinois.
Source: Evansville Courier & Press, “Former NBA player from Southern Illinois must pay nearly $1 million in child support,” Len Wells, 13 June 2011
