Man suspected of avoiding child support arrested

-- Deepa Bharath

A Costa Mesa man was one of five fathers to be arrested Wednesday on

federal charges for allegedly failing to pay court-ordered child support,

officials said.

Steven Quinton, 50, a father of two, is accused of owing more than

$53,000 in unpaid child support since December 1993, which violated a

court order issued by the Superior Court of San Luis Obispo, said Thom

Mrozek, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles.

Federal authorities targeted Quinton when local officials could not

track him down because he moved out of state, said Mrozek.

“That’s usually when the federal government gets involved,” he said.

“It is common for such people to move to another state to avoid paying

child support.”

The Child Support Recovery Act of 1992 made it a federal offense to

willfully avoid paying court-ordered child support for a child residing

in another state.

Quinton made his first court appearance Wednesday afternoon when he

was released after posting bail set at $25,000. He is scheduled to be

arraigned Monday morning in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.

If convicted, Quinton could get receive up to two years in federal

prison without parole.