Ex-professor faces nonsupport charges
Maja Rater says her ex-husband owes close to $200,000 in support.

By LEE ROOD
Register Staff Writer
07/09/2002
The ex-husband of one of Iowa's most vocal child-support recovery advocates was arraigned Monday in U.S. District Court in Des Moines, where one of Iowa's top federal prosecutors has recently begun to more aggressively pursue deadbeat parents.

Former Grand View College professor Otho Rater pleaded not guilty to charges that he willfully failed to pay more than $40,000 in child support. The father of seven children, Rater's unpaid support and interest total nearly $200,000, his ex-wife said.

"Maybe the feds are going to show me it's different here, but we'll see," said Maja Rater, who has doggedly fought for better collection efforts since her ex-husband allegedly first failed to pay support in the mid-1980s. "This is not about sending my ex-husband to prison. It's always been about pushing the law to the limit to get him to support his children."

U.S. Attorney Steve Colloton has stepped up enforcement against so-called deadbeat parents since he was named top prosecutor in Iowa's southern district late last year. Under the Deadbeat Parents Punishment Act of 1998, parents who leave their children's home state can face federal felony charges if they willfully fail to pay support for two years or owe more than $10,000, he said.

"We need to make sure people understand that not paying child support is not like failing to pay your MasterCard bill," Colloton said. "It's a serious (crime) with serious penal consequences."

Colloton formed a task force earlier this year with state and federal child-support recovery workers and investigators. So far, he said, six defendants face charges in the federal system.

"Our goal ultimately is not to imprison a lot of people. Our goal is to cause parents to pay the amount owed," he said. "We are trying to focus our more limited resources on the more serious cases."

Otho Rater's case is one of roughly 155,000 in Iowa involving some $987 million in delinquent child support.

Previously sentenced to five years in state prison for criminal nonsupport, he moved to Kansas after serving 14 months. On June 25, he was indicted by a federal grand jury. His federal trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 3.

Maja Rater, whose youngest child recently graduated from high school, said single parents should not be forced to wait until their children are grown before their ex-spouses are held accountable. Although many have been exasperated by her tireless hammering at state lawmakers and bureaucrats, she doesn't apologize for railing at the government to do more to help her family and others.

"If you were robbed every day wouldn't you be upset, too?" she asked outside the federal courthouse Monday.

Gerald Feuerhelm, Otho Rater's court-appointed attorney, declined to comment, saying he had not yet had a chance to review the new allegations contained in the indictment.

While Iowa's track record for collection is good compared with most states, its success dwindles when parents move out of state to avoid collection, said Geraldine Jensen, president of the National Association for Children for Enforcement of Support. Most states, she said, tend to give up on parents who have long track records of failing to pay.

Jensen said child-support advocates are meeting with President Bush next week to press for better enforcement against parents like Rater.