On the day before Valentine’s Day, a Mississippi man was ordered to pay back almost $13,000 to make up for failing to pay his child support for seven years, announced Attorney General Jim Hood.

Harrison County Circuit Court Judge Lisa P. Dodson ordered 34-year-old Gregory Williams to pay $12,818.73 in restitution after failing to pay child support for more than seven years.

Williams, who pleaded guilty to the charge, was sentenced to five years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections with all five years suspended. Five of those years will be on supervised probation followed by two years unsupervised. He was recently arrested on an outstanding bench warrant.

“Those who abandon their duty as a father or a mother cannot hide forever and must pay for it,” said General Hood. “I thank Judge Dodson for making this father pay what he owes to his child’s well-being.”

This case was prosecuted by Special Assistant Attorney General Dana Sims of the AG’s Child Desertion Unit.

The Office of the Attorney General prosecutes cases regarding unpaid child support when all other avenues are exhausted or the case has been referred by the Department of Human Services. If you have a complaint regarding unpaid child support, please contact the DHS hotline at 877-882-4916.