NC man guilty of failing to pay support for Maine child now 27

Bangor Daily News - 9/22/2018

Sept. 22--A federal jury on Thursday convicted a North Carolina man of failing to pay nearly $60,000 in child support for his son who is now 27.

Steve J. Matisko Jr., 54, of Raleigh, North Carolina, was found guilty following a two-day trial in federal court in Bangor, according to the U.S. attorney's office.

A sentencing date has not been set.

In 1997 a Maine District Court judge ruled that Matisko was the biological father of a child living in Maine, according to a Friday release. The judge at that time ordered Matisko to pay $56 per week to support the child, but he never made any payments, according to the release.

"The evidence also showed that Matisko lived in Maine, Alaska, Ohio, Texas and North Carolina during that [26-year] period of time, and worked for cash so as to avoid his support obligations," the U.S. attorney's office said in the release.

The male child, now 27, was born and raised in Caribou, according to the complaint.

Matisko was charged a year ago with failing to pay child support between January 2013 and January 2018, according to court documents. The statute of limitations prevented him from being charged with not paying support in earlier years.

He was arrested in North Carolina in October and remained free on personal recognizance bail until early September. Bail was revoked after Matisko failed to report to U.S. probation and pretrial services in Raleigh where he had been charged with driving with a revoked license.

Matisko's license was revoked in 2007 after he failed to appear in court for driving infractions in North Carolina.

He faces up to two years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Matisko is expected to be ordered to pay $58,406 in back child support.

The Maine Department of Health and Human Services in 2015 asked its sister agency in the U.S. government to help recover funds paid to Matisko's son and his mother through federally funded welfare programs, according to the complaint.

Follow the Bangor Daily News on Facebook for the latest Maine news.

___

Visit the Bangor Daily News (Bangor, Maine) at www.bangordailynews.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.