Magistrate Dabideen: Caring for a child is 50/50 effort

Caring for a child is a 50/50 effort and lack of interest in acting as role models in a child’s life would lead to social deviance which could cause a child to become a criminal. This was the advice from Magistrate Dabideen to parents who appeared before him on a child maintenance matter at the Scarborough High Court on Monday.

The mother who summoned the father to court for child maintenance, told Dabideen that two months after the baby was born, she phoned the man to teel him he was a father. The father asked the magistrate to order a paternity test costing between $2,500 to $3,000. He said he only knew about the child when the mother called him. He said “if the child is mine I’ll do the honourable thing...”

This case was one of 15 – for child maintenance and custody - heard by Dabideen in the morning session of the court before 12 noon.

In another case, a father of three, of Mary’s Hill, and an unemployed mother of Black Rock, also appeared before Dabideen. The mother said she was jobless after being fired from all her previous jobs because she was unable to balance the responsibility of a job and care for their three- year-old-child alone.

The father agreed to pay $1,000 a month but the mother declined this offer, seeking $1,200 a month instead. She also requested that the father agree to visit and have care of the child during weekends.

Asked by Magistrate Dabideen what days would be suitable for him, the man said he was married and taking the child to his home will cause issues with his wife.

In another case, a Guyanese woman sought custody for a child she shared with a Jamaican man living in Tobago. The mother , through her attorney Rodhil Kirk, requested full custody but the father, representing himself, told the magistrate that he has taken care of the child for over three years now and refuses to give full custody to the mother because of her absence in the child’s life for such a long period.

Kirk said the mother was dealing with immigration issues and was unable to help take care of her child. He said the father has threatened to kill the child if the mother were to be granted full custody.

Magistrate Dabideen noted that the mother was in a better financial situation than the father and it would best for her to have full custody. He allowed the father an additional three months for the court to monitor his care of the child before making a final decision.

Another father before the court for maintenance, told Dabideen that he recently buried three relatives and was not in a financial position to support his child during the period.

The case was dismissed after the mother informed the court he was supporting and visiting the six-month old baby on a regular basis. She was asked to be more lenient to the father if another serious matter such as a death in the family were to occur.