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DETROIT (WXYZ) – A Detroit man says he has lost his job, is almost homeless and could face jail time for not paying child support.
However, DNA tests prove the child in question is not his.
On Friday, Carnell Alexander turned himself in after a warrant was issued for his arrest.
“I stayed up all night. Couldn’t sleep thinking about it,” he told WXYZ.
Alexander says the State of Michigan has ordered him to pay child support for a boy that he can prove is not his.
“I haven’t even had a chance to speak to him except for one time when we took a DNA test,” Alexander said.
The case started in the late eighties when Alexander’s ex-girlfriend had a child.
She said she needed help providing for the boy, but was told that in order to get welfare assistance, she had to name a father on the paperwork.
She said she decided to put down Alexander’s name, even though she knew he couldn’t be the father.
That’s when the state started a paternity case against him to collect money for the assistance that was provided.
A process-server turned in paperwork, claiming that Alexander was given notice of the case.
However, the Michigan Department of Corrections says that is impossible since he was incarcerated at the time.
In fact, WXYZ says Alexander didn’t find out about the paternity action until 1991, when he was arrested for being a deadbeat dad.
“I’m almost homeless. I’m almost in jail. I am out of work. My money is threatened to be taken, ” he said. “I’m scared.”
The judge said that he won’t go to jail yet.
She put the case on hold until next month so his attorney could have a chance to argue that he shouldn’t be responsible for the child support bill.
“We can be defaulted into being a father of a child that is not ours. I don’t understand the law, but we do have that law in place,“ he said.
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