We told you all about Carol Benett, the mother of two of Stevie J’s kids, and the fact that she is suing him for over $1M dollars, for back child support, last week.
Even though she held a press conference, she insists that she isn’t doing this for fame and that she’s doing it to shed light on the system. She also states that Stevie J has missed 168 payments.
Catch more of the Urban Daily interview below:
The Urban Daily: Why choose to speak about Stevie J’s child support case now?
Carol Antoinette Bennet: Well, it didn’t just happen now. This has been an ongoing situation. We’ve actually been to court twice. The thing is I haven’t been the one pushing to go to court. He’s tried to go to court to not pay anything and has been denied twice. So basically, I’ve just been feeling that the system has been failing me and there’s not much I can do. My kids are in high school. My daughter just started high school so we’re preparing for college. It’s time for saving. We have to make sure that they’re not just prepared academically. We have to make sure they’re prepared financially as well. We had an agreement in the child support order that he would provide insurance. But nothing [has] been covered by Stevie for the last twelve or thirteen years.When you two first got together was he anything like what we see in television?
When we first met he was a good guy. We had a lot in common. We were both seriously connected in the business. He comes from a nice, big family. I don’t come from a big family, but we bonded over our love for family. He had a daughter and was very good with children. We were engaged for about two and a half years. We had known each other quite a while before then because I worked with Uptown Records and Motown Records. He was working with Jodeci at the time and he used to always tell me, “You’re gonna be my wife.” I told him, “No. No. No. I won’t mess with any artists!” He said, “Well, I’m not an artist.” So that’s how the whole thing kinda started. Then we had my son. Then we had my daughter and in between that he got a publishing deal.What do you say to those people who believe you’re only doing this because he’s on TV and making money?
That’s the misconception. My kids are 14 and 16. He has not made a voluntary payment in years. There’s a court order in place to pay x amount per month. If you don’t pay that, even if you can come close, it technically didn’t occur. He’s missed 168 payments. The reason why, this (is) my own speculation, because he’s been able to get away with it, why not keep doing it? Where’s the enforcement at? Okay, he doesn’t have a passport. He still can live, he’s just not going out of the country. It’s just being negligent and not taking on responsibility for your kids, but he doesn’t mind doing it for any other women.In the initial press release we got from you, you referenced the 1992 Child Support Recovery Act, which says it’s a crime to leave a state owing more than $10,000 in back child support if the child support case has been outstanding for two or more years. When he was getting ready to leave New York, why didn’t you say something to him then about the child support?
First of all, I am extremely independent. And with or without him, I’m going to take care of my kids. It’s been done already. They made it to their teens. Honestly, I thought the system was there to protect me and my children. The problem is because it’s New York state, when you go from state to state, the state isn’t able to go beyond state lines. The case would have to become federal for New York state to enforce the child support law.Another thing is that a lot of his monies were being kept in businesses. When you change the name, it’s hard to continue to track those businesses. He changes the business name every two years. Also, he moves money and puts it in other peoples’ names. That’s what I think is happening. That’s what I’ve come up with because he does have companies.
The few payments that have been garnished from him–I should say seized rather than garnished because garnished means it came from a paycheck and seized means they had to go and get it. So whether it’s a publishing check, you know publishing checks come like four times a year, there may be something to come out of it. There may not. It’s the luck of the draw sometimes. One time I received a check for $35. I’m not sure where it came from.
The thing I need you to understand is I’m not looking to throw him under the bus. I can say that literally and figuratively. I’m not looking to have him locked up or go to jail. I just want him to be responsible. If you live in another state and you’re not able to see your kids or physically be there for them, you now have an obligation to make a payment. He has just decided he isn’t going to do it and there’s no enforcement. Because there’s no enforcement, he feels like he can get away with it. That’s inappropriate because when my kids need shoes, they’re looking at me. My son is going to be getting his license soon and he’s going to want a car. Guess who he’s going to be looking at for that car. He’s going to be looking at me.
With your children being teenagers, how do they feel about this whole situation?
I set up a very good foundation for them because they were babies when we split up. We did try to keep things as much of a family as we could, but the distance took its toll.I never would speak bad about him because I didn’t have to. He’s their father and they know their father. When the show came out, they didn’t watch it at first, but I guess it’s become a kind of comedy. But the shenanigans going on with the show, they understand that it’s tv. They don’t look at it as real life and I purposely did that. I would sit down with them and we would watch it together. My son didn’t watch the first couple of episodes, but my daughter did and she didn’t like it. Afterwards, I had to explain certain things to her. However, I let them know that you can’t believe everything you read or see on TV. That’s our philosophy.
If a family court judge awards you all of the money you’re asking for…
Let me stop you. First of all, this is what people are misunderstanding–it is arrears. It is what is owed. This is twelve or thirteen years of payments that have been missed. It’s not about being awarded a million dollars. That’s not the case here. My children need their monthly financial support. Period. That’s it. At what point are you going to begin to pay it? You’re now on a show. You have a hit show on your hands. Okay. At what point do you say, “Let me pay x amount per month.”? Even if it’s not the exact amount for what’s due, just send something.So if you told him that if he couldn’t send the full monthly child support payment and were willing to accept a portion of it, why do you think he wasn’t or still isn’t willing to work with you?
I never said he wasn’t willing to work with me. The bottom line is that when you say you’re going to work with somebody, you make a payment. That’s how I know you’re willing or not willing to work something out. When you don’t make a payment, it’s like, “Okay, we had a conversation. Let’s move on.” At what point do you make a payment? Three months after we have a conversation? No. Or you make a payment and then we don’t hear from you for another three to four payments? No. What you’re hearing about is [being] consistently negligent.This isn’t just about me. This about other custodial parents that have the same issue and I think it’s unfair for anybody–I don’t care if they owe $5,000–to be allowed to get away with it. It is court ordered. So obviously there are flaws in the system. It’s billions of dollars owed in child support. How did they let it get to this amount? That’s the question everybody should be asking.
That is a very good question. How did he allow it to get to that amount?
I’m talking about the system. How can a person owe this amount in arrears? It’s out of my control. What could I do within the court system? This is as far as I can go. There’s nothing I can do because it’s already in the court system. The only thing they can do is garnish his wages and not allow him to have a passport to leave the country.
