Also known as: Child Support Recovery Act · CSRA
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A federal criminal statute that prohibits willful failure to pay a court-ordered child support obligation when the child resides in a different state from the obligor.
Curtis Cannon resides in State A and earns wages there after separating from his former spouse. Their child now lives with the former spouse in State B under a support order entered in State C. Cannon makes no payments despite repeated demands. The government indicts him in the District of State B. The court denies his motion to dismiss because the continuing offense of nonpayment is completed where the child resides and experiences the deprivation.
Connor Clark lives and banks in State X after a support order requires payments to his child now residing in State Y. Clark receives salary in State X but directs none of it to the required support for several years. The government charges him under the statute in the District of State X. The court upholds venue because Clark's ongoing decisions and financial omissions constitute continuation of the offense in the district of his residence.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Caleb Chang works and maintains his home in State M while his child resides in State N under an out-of-state support order. Chang repeatedly declines payroll deductions and sends no payments over multiple years. Federal prosecutors bring charges in the District of State N. The court finds venue proper because the offense continues and is completed where the unpaid support is owed and the resulting harm occurs.
Venue lies in any district where the offense of willful nonpayment was begun, continued, or completed. Courts have held that the continuing nature of the offense extends to the district where the child resides because that is where the harm from nonpayment is felt each month.
Supporting sources
Yes. The continuing offense is completed in the district where the child lives because that is the location to which support is owed and where the deprivation persists. The defendant's physical absence from that district does not defeat venue.
Supporting sources
Yes. The obligor's residence supplies venue when the willful failure to pay occurs through ongoing decisions made there over multiple payment periods. Receipt of salary and maintenance of bank accounts in that district reinforce continuation of the offense.
Supporting sources
…movement of some relevant object, thereby regulating local criminal activity or, for that matter, family affairs. See, e. g. , Child Support Recovery Act of 1992, 18 U. S. C. § 228. Although this possibility does not give the Federal Government the power to regulate everything, it means that any substantive limitation will apply randomly in…