NEWS

Court forbids deadbeat dad from having more kids

John Johnson

Newser

Asim Taylor owes about $100,000 in child support, and an appeals court in Ohio has upheld an unusual sentence meant to make sure that bill doesn't grow: Justices reaffirmed that the Elyria man can't have any more kids until he pays up, reports the local Chronicle-Telegram.

That means Taylor, who is in his mid-30s and has fathered four children, could go to jail if he impregnates someone during the five years he's on probation, 19 Action News reports. He plans to appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court on the grounds that he has a constitutional right to procreate, says his attorney.

The appeals court didn't address the legal merits of the original 2013 court order, saying it didn't have the necessary information—specifically a pre-sentencing report — to do so, reports AP.

But one of the three judges wrote a separate opinion that backed up the reasoning. "Where, as here, the defendant has demonstrated a long-term refusal to support multiple children by multiple women notwithstanding his ability to work and contribute something for their care, an anti-procreation condition is reasonably related to future criminality."

(Another man was once dubbed the government's most wanted deadbeat parent.)