A man who was Maryland's most-wanted "deadbeat dad" was ordered yesterday to serve nearly six months in jail and pay more than $48,000 in support for his five children.
Immediately after the Howard County Circuit Court hearing, the man's 20-year-old son was arrested on charges related to failing to pay child support for his daughter.
Anthony Charles Farace, 43, of Woodlawn was found guilty of lTC criminal contempt by Judge James Dudley for not making most of his court-ordered payments since his 1986 divorce.
Yesterday, Judge Dudley ordered Mr. Farace to serve 163 days in the Howard County Detention Center. Mr. Farace, who works as a chimney sweep, will enter the jail's work-release program so he can earn money to pay his child support while serving his sentence.
Mr. Farace, who has paid less than $5,000 since his divorce from Joy Goldsmith of Ellicott City in December 1986, must pay $850 a month in support for his children, who are now between 12 and 21 years old.
Mr. Farace, who will begin his sentence next Friday, said after yesterday's proceedings that he was relieved that the case had been resolved.
"I don't want to be the monster everyone's made me out to be," said Mr. Farace, whose case was featured in the National Enquirer last March. "All I want to do is pay child support."
Mr. Farace noted that he routinely gave his ex-wife and their children money to cover their living expenses, although the money was not provided to them through county channels.
Typically, parents send money to the county Department of Social Services, which forwards it to the custodial parent. Money that does not go through the agency is not officially tallied. Craig Kadish, a Baltimore attorney for Mr. Farace, said he expects to file a request for Judge Dudley to reduce his client's monthly payments.
Mr. Kadish said the monthly payments should be reduced because Mr. Farace makes less money than he did when the payment amount was set, as he owned his own chimney sweep business at that time. The attorney also noted that three of Mr. Farace's children are now adults.
Mr. Farace was apprehended in August at his home in the 6600 block of Tallulah Ave. in Woodlawn after a lengthy investigation on a warrant issued for his arrest on a contempt charge in 1992.
When arrested, Mr. Farace ranked as Maryland's No. 1 deadbeat parent, owing $48,135 in support. He's paid some of that and now owes $48,555.
Meanwhile, Mr. Farace's son, Robert M. Farace of Woodlawn, said he would not allow his case to become as serious as that of his father. He said he has paid support directly to the mother of his 2-year-old daughter and will bring the canceled checks to court to prove it.
Robert Farace, who attended his father's hearing, was arrested after ward on a warrant issued because he failed to appear at a Dec. 14 court hearing on his own child-support case.
He was released shortly after his arrest, after his father's employer posted his bail of $892, the amount of money court documents say he owes in support.