© Reuters / Soe Zeya Tun
A 24-year-old Arizona man is being asked to pay more than $15,000 in child support for a daughter he fathered at the age of 14 - and didn't know existed until two years ago.
The Arizona Republic reported this week that the man, Nick Olivas, is legally a victim of rape since he was younger than 15 when he engaged in a sexual relationship a decade ago with a women who was 20 at the time.
According to the paper, Olivas only learned two years ago that his daughter existed when he was served with legal papers demanding he pay child support for the six years he wasn't around for a daughter he never heard of.
"It was a shock,
" he told the paper. "I was living my life and enjoying being young. To find out you have a 6-year-old? It's unexplainable. It freaked me out."
The Republic reported that Olivas ignored the paperwork when he was first asked to pay up two years ago, and failed to take a paternity test to confirm his relationship with the daughter. The Arizona Department of Economic Security division of Child Support Services has since tracked him down, however, and now tells the paper he's been compelled to pay around $15,000 in back child support, as well as the hospital bills for his daughter's birth, with 10 percent interest added on top. To collect the funds, the state is now taking $380 each month from his paycheck.
Olivas told the
Republic for an article published on Tuesday this week that he has no issue with making payments to help with his daughter moving forward, but doesn't think he should be held accountable for the six years in which he was never told he was a father.
"Anything I do as an adult, I should be responsible for," he said. "But as a teenager? I don't think so."
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