King County Cracks Down On Child Support

King County is cracking down on deadbeat parents who are failing to make child-support payments.

Police are working to execute about 200 active arrest warrants issued for nonpaying parents who have resisted collection efforts for months and, in some cases, for years.

“We throw people in jail all the time for comparatively petty offenses,” said King County Deputy Prosecutor Susan Grey. “But here we have people who have been committing economic abuse or theft against their children for a long time, and they’re going free.”

In February, more than 40 parents with outstanding warrants were either arrested or resolved their cases, Grey said.

Individual cases involve sums ranging from several thousand dollars in overdue support payments to $150,000.

In 1992 and 1994, when similar efforts were made, authorities collected more than $75,000 and cleared dozens of arrest warrants.

“It’s a very serious problem in our country,” Grey said.

The prosecutor’s office resolves many cases before arrest warrants are issued, she said. In King County last year, Grey said, prosecutors squeezed $2.7 million in back support from reluctant parents.