"An enlightened citizen is an indispensable ingredient of the infrastructure of democracy." -- Barbara Jordan, former U.S. Congresswoman and state legislator




The legal obligation of a parent to support a child began in the common law. "The duty of the parent to maintain his offspring until they attain the age of maturity is a perfect common law duty." Dawson v. Dawson, 12 Iowa 512 (1861).

Today, child support is a statutory obligation.











What is government itself but the greatest of all reflections on human nature?

If men were angels, no government would be necessary.

If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.

James Madison (1751–1836), U.S. president. Federalist Papers, no. 47 (Jan. 1788)



My Personal Story


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On June 9th, 1998 my former husband of 23 years, a former math professor of GrandView College in Des Moines, Iowa, and the father of our 7 children, was sentenced to 5 years in prison for not paying the court ordered child support. Of course, he is appealing this sentence!

It took me more than 16 years to get to this point. Not because of lack of laws! Not because of lack of ability on his part to earn the court ordered child support awarded his children (that he agreed to pay). But simply because he didn't want to pay (in order to get back at me for leaving him) and in this culture we live in, a culture where laws are enforced only in regards to whose ox is gored, he could get away with it!

In Iowa non-support is a felony class-D. Yet, it took me 16 years to get to this point! Besides, this case is the first of its kind in Iowa in spite of Iowa's child support collection rate being 20 percent, as well as over $800 million are owed to 269,000 children (with a very low unemployment rate!). Besides having a governor who espouses pro-life, pro-family values as well as politicians espousing family values left and right!

In September of 1991, 4 years after our divorce, my former husband rearranged his contract pay, and I began to receive $75.00 less each month. Child Support Enforcement (CSE) refused to take any action telling me that I should be happy that I received something.

In April month of 1992 he quit his job and again CSE refused to take any action saying that this father with 2 Master's degrees and lots of human capital, had no ability to pay! CSE also refused to attach his pension plan money. By the time I scraped money together for a lawyer, he had received the money and put it in his girl friend's account (everything he owed went into her name). GrandView College even had a judge rule on the issue. The judge had ruled that he could receive his pension money. Of coursse, CSE told me it was "staying out of it" and I was not enformed of the hearing before it had taken place.

I went on welfare and scraped money together to take my case to court. I will never forget that day as long as I live. As I was walking away from the court house on a cold november day, a few weeks from Christmas, reliving what had taken place in the court room, it hit me for the first time how vulnerable the kids and I were. The laws that were put in place to protect children from what was happening to us only had meaning if the judge choose to give them such--and this judge had chosen to give them none.

The judge had refused to find my former husband in contempt saying that I was lying when I testified under oath that he had quit his job. I "couldn't be trusted as I had a vested interest." My former husband didn't show up and his lawyer said that he had been fired, which he knew he had not.

In 1993 I went to a lawyer and asked whether there was any point in going back to court. He said yes. We proceded (he received a court appointed lawyer all the way to Iowa Supreme Court) and about 7 months later he was found in contempt of court on 10 counts. The following month he was sentenced to 6 months in jail.

He appealed and posted the $2,500.00 cash bond requested which I proceeded to garnished. 3 years later the Iowa Supreme Court handed down the decision which concurred with the lower court's findings. Then we went on fighting for the bail money. We had several trips before a judge. First Otho Rater claimed the money belonged to the neighbor. When that proved to be a lie, his girl friend claimed the money came from her. When the judge ruled in my favor she appealed it to the Iowa Supreme Court. They always have money for bail and lawyers! Now the state wanted the money which I refused to hand over, so now they are keeping my state tax refund.

In the meantime I was getting tired of this whole thing. He was not paying. He was not in jail. He had not paid a dime in about 5 years. CSE refused to take any action. The legislators refused to take any action. The attorney general's office told me that I "had married a jerk and had to live with the consequences."

I found out that non-support in Iowa was a felony class-D. No one believed me. I took a copy of the law, besides all my court cases, and went to the county attorney and asked him to prosecute.

After doing a lot of leg work he took the case before the Grand Jury and my former husband was charged with 14 counts of criminal non-support.

He disappeared. About 6 months later a detective found him hiding in a secret room he had built in his house in Runnells, Iowa. He was arrested and arraigned. Of couse, he posted bail!

After months of gimmicks, including firing 4 lawyers, we finally went to trial. He requested being his own attorney, which the judge allowed with his 4th attorney as his stand-by attorney. It took the jury 45 minutes to find him guilty on all 14 counts and the following month he was sentenced to 5 years in prison. Of course, he appealed and posted bond!

The following year, after hearing oral arguments in the case, the Iowa Supreme Court overturned the guilty verdict on the grounds that he had been allowed to be his own attorney. A special hearing apparently should have been conducted to make sure that he knew how unwise it was to represent himself!

In January of 1997 he was not in jail. He was working but not paying anything except for $10.07 in 1996 (he was jumping from job to job in order to avoid wage withholding). No action in sight from the Iowa Supreme Court. He had hired a lawyer and served me with paper requesting a modification --lowering of his child support obligations. I requested that CSE take action.

Finally, they decided to take steps to revoke his driver's license. A meeting was arranged. My former husband showed up with his lawyer and said that since he was registred to work with an employment agency they couldn't revoke his driver's license. Apparently one doesn't have to work or pay--just be registred! His license was not revoked!!

I then demanded that CSE took other action.

We went to civil court again. He was found in contempt of court on 1 count for not paying for 30 months!!!

He was sentenced to 30 days in jail which he didn't have to serve as long as he paid $200.00 a month. His monthly obligations were $816.00. He owed about $77,000.00 in back child support! Yet this judge said that as long as he paid $200.00 a month he would not go to jail for his past criminal behavior nor would he be in contempt for future criminal behavior (he has thus been protected for 18 months).

In the meantime I was forced into the workforce. Never mind that the same welfare bill that allowed states to cut economic support to children (which Iowa is bragging about) also demands enforcement and collection of court ordered child support!

In February of 1998, just before the 2nd criminal trial was to beginn (which ended after 2 days of deliberation in a hung jury) the judge handed down a decision in the modification request lowering his child support obligations retroactively to when he had filed the year before, thus eliminating my youngest son from receiving child support 4 months before he was graduating from high-school (this was a female judge!).

Of course, my former husband did not think it was lowered enough so he appealed the decision!
The appeal of that case as well as the appeal of the criminal case is pending before the Iowa Supreme Court.

The state of Iowa has spent more money "aiding and abetting " the criminal behavior of this deadbeat parent who now owes around $80,000 in back child support, as well as hounding me off welfare (I was a stay-at-home mom for 31 years), that it would have spent just economically supporting the children (which could have been recouped from garnishment of his Social Security Benefits when he begins to receive them in a few years).

It appears to me that we have reached a point in our culture that it has become very risky to choose to become a parent. Suicidal to choose to be a stay-at-home mom!!

It appearss to me that it is time to put a warning label on the marriage license: Warning! You are having children at your own risk!! The laws on the books may fool you into believing that in case of divorce (which is real in a society with a 50 percent divorce rate) you will receive the court ordered child support awarede the children!

No such guarantee! With a national average child support collection rate of 20 percent (the same in Iowa), you most likely will be among the parents who receive nothing or next to nothing!!

We are daily bombarded with "We are a country governed by rule of law!"

Our congress people are trying to hound our president out of office on some flimsy immoral behavior (which he never should have been asked about in the first place). Constantly we are told that our way of life will colapse if we don't enforce our laws. Yet, the lack of enforcement of the laws that protect and regulate the behavior of the center of our culture, namely the family, is ignored.

It has become clear to this family that in our society laws mean nothing in and of themselves. They are only enforced in accordance with whose ox is gored!! Where is the moral outrage, Dr. Bill Bennett?

Or are you only morally outraged at presidents cheating on their wives--at least when they are of the opposing political party?

Post script!

Otho Rater is still in prison. He was up for a review in which he was deemed "releasable." His appeal has been dismissed, but he is still paying a lawyer to fight the modification ruling. That case is pending before the Iowa Supreme Court, still in the brief filing stages. I received 1 restitution check for $31.52, I assume to impress the review board, and it appeared that it worked. I bet the board did not ask him how much he paid his attorney during this period. My guess is that it was more than $31.52. Currently Otho Rater owes more than $82,000. Also he never has paid a dime toward the medical bills for services his children have needed since our divorce in 1987. Will things change in Iowa for children such as mine now that we have a new governor who promissed during the campaign to "fight for child support," besides placing "children as a top priority?" So far it has all been talk, and with the state keeping my tax refund (which Governor Tom Vilsack knows of), I have very little hope for a better future for the thousands of children who are owed court ordered child support in Iowa!!



P.S. I received the tax refund and Otho Rater was denied an early parole!!!



I have just been informed that Otho Rater will again be before the Parole Board being considered for parole (on June 2nd).



LATEST: IN A TELEPHONE CONVERSATION I WAS INFORMED BY A MEMBER OF THE BOARD OF PAROLE THAT OTHO RATER WAS INDEED THIS TIME PAROLED. APPARENTLY HE CONVINCED THE 3 PANEL REVIEW BOARD THAT IF PAROLED, HE NO LONGER WOULD STEAL FROM HIS CHILDREN!



ON JULY 12, 1999 OTHO RATER WAS RELEASED FROM PRISON!!! I CANNOT WAIT FOR THE FIRST HUGE CHILD SUPPORT CHECK!!!



Finally, on October 1st, 1999 I received a check for $434.31. And only because an aide at Rep. Greg Ganske's office called the place Otho Rater's lawyer had told CSRU before a judge that he worked. It turned out that he did not work there. Just in nick of time did CSRU fax a wage withholding order to where Otho Rater actually worked. Thus, I received this check.

This man is on parole!! He is breaking the law in regards to paying restitution. In regards to paying court ordered child support to his children! This is a country governed by rule of law?

Whose rule of law?

Perhaps there is a happy ending to this story!!

Beginning in November 1999 Otho Rater began working at a regular job. I am getting regular child support payments although still not enough to cover the current support payments. Perhaps that will change since on December 13, 1999 the Iowa Supreme Court handed down a decision on his request for a modification of his child support payments. He disagreed with the payments the Lower court had set about 2 years earlier. The Higher Court affirmed the Lower Court's decision.

Currently Otho Rater is owing over $88,000 in back child support!!

In Iowa over one billlion dollars is owed in unpaid child support to 134,000 children. Where is the moral outrage from all the family-values, pro-life, personal responsibility people?



Well, it is now year 2002. In year 2001 Otho Rater quit his job and left the state of Iowa which made him a candidate for the Deadbeat Parents Punishment Act which President Clinton signed into law in 1998. On July 8th, 2002 Otho Rater was indicted on 5 charges of federal non-support charges. The trial was supposed to start on September 3rd, 2002 but was continued--until October 28th, 2002. The wheels of justice grinds very slowly in a nation which worships criminals. With the 10 percent interest the state allows on delinquent child support Otho Rater is getting close to the $200,000 in unpaid child support! Read the Des Moines Register article below.
Ex-professor faces non-support charges



GUILTY AS SIN

11/05/2002 $60,000 BEHIND ON CHILD SUPPORT, MAN IS CONVICTED The ex-husband of a vocal child-support recovery advocate from Casey was convicted of willfully failing to pay his obligations, U.S. Attorney Steven Colloton said Monday. Otho Rater, 59, now of Kansas, admitted during his trial in Des Moines that the past-due obligations to his seven children exceeded $60,000. Rater waived his right to a jury trial and had his case tried before U.S. District Judge James Gritzner. Rater faces a prison term of up to two years when he is sentenced Feb. 3. Rater's case has received widespread attention, thanks mainly to his crusading ex-wife, Maja Rater, who has written letters to newspapers, lobbied lawmakers and criticized bureaucrats since he first failed to pay child support in the mid-1980s.





Otho Rater will be sentenced on February 3rd,2003 at 9 AM in U.S. District Court in Des Moines, Iowa


MAN SENTENCED IN SUPPORT CASE

A Kansas man was sentenced to 15 months in prison for failing to pay child support to children in Guthrie County.

Otho Rater, 59, of Schoenschen, Kansas, owes $87,181.70 in back child support payments. He was indicted on 5 counts of willfully failing to pay a past-due child support obligation on June 25, 2002.

The charges relate to unpaid child support of seven children that has accrued since 1982. He was found guilty of the charges on Nove. 4, 2002

OF COURSE HE IS APPEALING THE DECISION!!!!!

8TH CIRCUIT U.S. COURT OF APPEALS

Case No. 03-1449 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Plaintiff - Appellee v. OTHO LEONARD RATER Defendant - Appellant





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