Iowa Man Wants to Reduce Child Support Obligations

But he just keeps making babies. Nathan Leet, 29, of Malvern, Iowa has fathered five children by five different women. And another on the way. He's months behind in his child support. So, naturally, he's asked a judge to reduce the amount he must pay each month.

Two stories [here and here] for KCCI-TV provide details:

Leet's children include Austin, 9, Dylan, 7, Brayden, 5, Katelyn, 4, and Clayton, 3.

"Five kids. Five different women, and one on the way! It's pitiful," said Wendy Snodgrass, mother of Dylan.

Leet is a truck driver.

"He's a charmer, when he wants to be," Snodgrass said.

Snodgrass, of Council Bluffs, said she was 16 when she became pregnant. She said Leet disappeared shortly after. The state of Iowa tracked him down to collect child support.

"Then they did a DNA test because he said, 'Oh no, that's not my child. No. It's somebody else's.' Found out it was his, and when they said, 'OK, this is your kid. Now you need to pay,' he didn't," she said.

Chastity Pearson is the mother of Leet's first child, Austin.

"We were dating eight months and I got pregnant with Austin. I was two months pregnant, he left me," Pearson said.

"He's got all these kids, and he's not taking care of them," Snodgrass said.

[snip]

Leet's mother cares for one of his children. The other four live with their four mothers.

Leet complains that he's required to pay $1,300 per month in child support. He said that's more than half his income, so he's trying to get it reduced. Leet said he thinks he's getting the short end of the stick.

When KETV NewsWatch 7's Carol Kloss talked to Leet to ask him about his child support troubles, he was with his 18-year-old girlfriend, Stacy. Stacy is expecting a child.

Kloss: "Have you thought about: stop having kids?"

Stacy: "Ya know, it takes two, lady."

Leet: "Ya know, that is one thing I do have to say, because I've heard that plenty of times. No. 1: There's no gun to their head. Two: I didn't hear them putting up a fight. Three: It does take two. So why doesn't anybody get on them? Why is it always on the guy?"

Kloss: "Well, you're the one with all the kids. They each have one."

Leet: "Yeah, and they each live off the state."

Taxpayers do end up paying some of the bills. Both Dylan and Austin are on Medicaid. But most of the burden falls on the mothers.

"I'm working 74 hours this week so I can make ends meet because I'm not getting the child support," Pearson said.

[snip]

Leet admits he fell behind on child support when he took a two-month vacation.

"It's kinda hard to play catch-up," Leet said.

Leet is now back to work and the mothers of his children should start receiving their checks again.

"He thinks that we're just all money-grubbing wenches and that's all we care about," Pearson said.

"All they care about is their money," Leet said. "They don't care about their kids. They don't care about what it's going to do to the kids."

How are the kids doing? Kloss asked 7-year-old Dylan.

"Sometimes we go on the trampoline," Dylan said, before his mother jumped in to correct her son, who was thinking of his grandfather.

"Your Dad. Do you know who I'm talking about?" Snodgrass asked her son.

"No," Dylan replied.

[snip]

"In answer to your question, 'Have I gotten the short end of the stick on this?' Yes," Leet said. "I have, and I've gotten it repeatedly. Enough is enough."

At last check, Leet is still trying to get his child support reduced and the children's mothers are trying to collect what he already owes.

[follow up story]

Leet said Thursday that he deserves a break because he's taken on a lower paying, less demanding job to spend more time with one son who now lives with Nathan's mother. But two of the women who gave birth to his children believe the only reason Leet took a lower paying job is to reduce his child support payments.

In court, Leet said he's working just 30 to 35 hours per week to spend more time at home.

"I pay out more in child support than I take in," Leet testified.

But mother of Leet's first child, Chastity Pearson, testified that she's now working two jobs to make up for the support that Leet doesn't pay.

The state's attorney said there is no good reason why Leet can't continue earning enough to continue making his child support obligation.

Let's all cry crocodile tears for Nathan. Do you think a vasectomy would cost as much as the child support?