Deadbeat dads - small target

The incumbent-friendly Northwest Herald gave Keith Nygren some free publicity today with its article titled, "New website targets deadbeats".

It's a small target, I'll tell you. From the website for the county sheriff comes the purpose of the website: "Deadbeat Parents website is to identify and eventually lead to the apprehension of Deadbeat Parents who choose not to fulfill their obligations to support their children. Parents who fail to take financial responsibility for their children place a heavy burden on the custodial parent or guardian, government agencies and taxpayers."

Go to www.mchenrysheriff.org/ and then scroll down the left side to "Dead Beat Parents" (sic). The first question I had upon arriving at the site was, does this mean "dead, beat parents" or dead beat(en) down parents". But the copy writer got it right in the narrative; it's "deadbeat".

Look carefully at the list of names; it won't take much time. There are only seven (7) deadbeat dads in McHenry County. Now that ought to thrill everyone, except the hundreds of moms out there whose kids are not receiving their child support payments.

How many deadbeat parents are there in McHenry County - really?

I'll be digging around, because I've heard that many files were shipped off from McHenry County to the State of Illinois for collection. That ought to re-assure a lot of moms; right? We all know how financially stable the State of Illinois is and how easy it will be for the State to track down these deadbeats.

If you know a deadbeat who is not paying child support for his/her kids in McHenry County, sound off in a comment below. I'll bet there are many. In fact, I already know of two; wait, make that three. Their stories will follow.

"...eventually lead to the apprehension of ..."? That's a powerful mission. No deadline = no result. Care to bet? How about not eventually? How about now, while the kids are still young and need food, clothing, dental care, haircuts?

On the sheriff's website, it says,
If you know the whereabouts of any of these individuals,
DO NOT TRY TO APPREHEND"

How about offering a reward, instead? Or, when he drops over to visit the kids (assuming any one of those deadbeats does that), why not offer him a meal, and send one of the kids to the neighbor's house to call for a cop or deputy? How many years will it take to round up those seven? Is any one of them still in the State of Illinois?

And where are the names and photos of the hundreds of other deadbeats?