Cohen Debacle Exposes Broader Child Support Issues

Illinois residents who weren't hiding under a rock for the past month know all about disgraced Lt. governor nominee Scott Lee Cohen, who the Chicago Sun-Times says spent $2 million dollars on his campaign despite owing his ex-wife $54,000 in child support. Reporters digging into his divorce files found numerous other outrageous claims as well.

But Mr. Cohen's delinquency in paying child support for on behalf of his four children raises an important question: How did he get so far in his campaign (i.e. he won) while thumbing his nose at the state laws he purportedly was prepared to enforce as Lt. governor?

That's the question Sun-Times columnist Mary Mitchell attempted to answer, even questioning her fellow journalists' integrity:

Now that the Scott Lee Cohen debacle is over, voters have every right to be disgusted. Not only did the media drop the ball by not digging deep enough into Cohen's past, but we didn't even follow the money.

The Illinois Child Support Enforcement division of the Dept. of Children and Family Services provides information on its web site for custodial parents seeking past-due child support payments. Among them are private collection services, actions by the agency's own Collection and Asset Recovery Unit and even federal government involvement. But perhaps the services of a Chicago family law attorney might also help speed the process.

That still doesn't answer the question of how Mr. Cohen's delinquency went unchecked. Ms. Mitchell's column indicates that his ex-wife was unemployed and complained in court that Mr. Cohen was nine months behind in payments.

Mr. Cohen allegedly owed his ex more than many of the deadbeat parents publicly shamed on a state-maintained web site that includes pictures, names and the amount owed. Perhaps we'll never why Mr. Cohen's mug didn't appear alongside the others or how he got so far in politics.

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