Dead Beat... Moms?

PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. (WTSP) -- Oftentimes, dads get a bad rap for not paying child support. But each month in Pinellas County alone, about 15 percent of the new child support defendants are women.

"We have a lot of problems right now with child support in this economy," said attorney Carin Constantine, who estimates about 30 percent of her new child support cases involve women who aren't paying.

"I think a common fallacy is that mothers don't have to pay child support and nothing could be further from the truth," said Constantine, who has cases that involve both defending and prosecuting women who don't pay child support.

Over the years, dead beat moms have given Constantine every excuse there is.

"I gave that child his bottles... I changed his diapers... I've done my duty. I carried that child for nine months. [My ex] doesn't know what that feels like, and I'm done. That would be the craziest excuse I've ever heard," Constantine said.

Men are more likely to work two jobs to pay child support, she added.

One of Constantine's clients, Justine Cameron, owes $9,000 in child support and can't come up with a way to pay. A doctor's office receptionist, she was laid off in April and hasn't landed a job since.

"I don't believe people don't pay because they don't want to," she said through tears. "People don't pay because they can't."

Since Cameron was laid off, she's enrolled in school and cut out extras like cable. But she says she still can't afford her child support payment each month.

I feel like a failure, she says.

While it is mostly men who don't pay child support, in Pinellas County alone, about 70 of the new child support cases each month are women. That's about 15 percent.

Circuit Court Judge John Lenderman has seen an increase child support cases, especially as the recession has progressed.

"The number of people saying they can't pay child support is just huge. If you can't pay your child support because you lost your job, do something," he said. "Don't just do nothing."

Lenderman says he sees a lot of women who think they shouldn't have to pay child support. In every case, his focus is on the child's best interests.

Jeremy Reichert has spent a lot of time focusing on his three children.

About two years ago, his wife decided she didn't want to be married anymore and moved out. Since that time, Reichert says his ex has moved seven times and had eight jobs.

10 Connects tried to locate Penny Reichert without success. No one was at her last known address, and after 10 Connects sent several emails with no response, the email account was closed.

But 10 Connects did find jail records that indicate St. Petersburg Police arrested Penny Reichert on theft charges in 2007. "She doesn't want to be found for some reason," Reichert said.

Since his wife left, Reichert says she hasn't sent one child support payment. According to court documents, Penny Reichert owed $6,003.44 as of August 27.

The only thing I've gotten is her tax refund, and that was only because it was taken out of her paycheck, he said.