‘Most Wanted’ Father Denies Failure to Pay
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SANTA ANA — A father whose picture was featured on this year’s state Department of Social Services’ “most wanted” poster pleaded not guilty Tuesday to criminal charges of failing to pay child support.
Carey Eugene Trabue, who authorities say has never made a voluntary child support payment, owes his children, ages 5 and 11, more than $57,000 dating back to 1993, prosecutors allege.
In September, Trabue was featured as Orange County’s “most wanted” child support evader on a poster distributed by the state’s Child Support Network.
Trabue was convicted in Orange County in 1994 of willful nonsupport of his children. He served jail time but fled probation supervision in November 1995. He was arrested in October in Rapid City, S.D., after he went to an emergency room with a stab wound to his hand, the result of a domestic dispute with his current girlfriend, and authorities discovered he was a fugitive.
Trabue was not present in court Tuesday but entered the plea through his attorney. Municipal Judge Richard W. Standford Jr. set his bail at $150,000 and scheduled a pretrial hearing for Jan. 10. with a trial set to begin on Jan. 22.
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