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Dad Jailed Over Support Pay

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 20, 2009

A tip led Pasco County sheriff's deputies to a man they had been chasing for two weeks for failing to pay nearly $165,000 in child support.

David William Earley, 42, of New Port Richey, was arrested Monday at a home in Holiday, sheriff's spokesman Kevin Doll said.

"We found him in someone's house," Doll said. "The person gave us permission to search and we found him."

Doll didn't know who owned the home. Earley was booked into jail on a warrant from Pinellas County, which required that he be held without bail until his appearance before a circuit judge.

"He has been living in Pasco," Doll said. "We've been trying to find him for the past couple of weeks. Someone tipped us off today and the tip came back positive."

Earley's ex-wife, Sharon, 44, has been after him for 19 years to get him to pay what he owes her for raising their four children. That figure was $164,867 last week, and growing $314 every week, according to Pinellas circuit court records.

Earley has remarried and is living in New Port Richey with his wife and two daughters. He lost his driving privileges because of his failure to make child support payments, and in 2007 a felony warrant was issued for his arrest.

Earley was featured in a News Channel 8 report last week on Florida's deadbeat parents.

The number of deadbeat parent cases administered by the state Department of Revenue has increased more than 100,000 during the past five years, to 792,000, involving an estimated 1 million children.

Confronted outside his wife's hair salon, Earley acknowledged he owes child support and disappeared inside the business.

Since then, sheriff's deputies had been actively pursuing him until Monday's arrest.

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