How would you react if your husband came home and told you he was "wrongly" accused of having a child with a woman he's never met? Would you believe him?
That's the allegation that threatened to ruin Anthony William's life. "You have to come home and tell your wife, hey I have a kid...it's kind of sad," said Anthony.
Across the country in Seattle Washington, a single mother of 4 accused Anthony of being the father of her 5-year-old daughter.
"They have my social security number, my address," said Anthony.
Anthony was married with children and living in Colorado when the child was allegedly conceived in Mesa, Arizona. The child's mother had a filed in a child support claim in Seattle, Washington. Anthony told us, "she got pregnant in Mesa, Arizona, never been to Mesa, Arizona, had the kid in Portland, Oregon, never been to Oregon, now she lives in Seattle, Washington, never been to Seattle, Washington ever."
Still no matter how many times Anthony tried to explain to Washington's human services department, no one would listen. "I called Washington and they were angered that I called. They said, 'you need to contact Colorado, leave us alone.'"
The case was turned over to Arapahoe County Child Support Enforcement. They contacted Anthony's employer and started the process of garnishing his wages.
With no where else to turn, Anthony contacted FOX 31.
Arapahoe County officials agreed to give Anthony a DNA test. He did right away. But then he was told the mother who made the allegation was making every excuse not to do hers... Weeks turned into months. And that when we started demanding answers from Washington state..."
Washington's department of Human Services eventually sent Anthony a letter admitting, he was "mistakenly identified as a possible father."
"Federal law requires employers to report newly hired staff to a national data base. The data base matched your name with our non custodial parent (with the same name) and provided us your social security number. We have now "confirmed you are not the person we are looking for."
An Arapahoe County spokesperson says their agency relied on the incorrect information provided by Washington State, "if you have a common name and some generalities given by a custodial parent in another state and that's all they can remember government has to rely on that information."
That spokesperson admits mistake can happen if you have a common name, but she says it is rare. "In Arapahoe county in 2009 we had 479 cases that we processed from other states. This is the only case that we are aware of that was a mistake in identity."
If you are the victim of mistaken identity you can demand a DNA test. Still, nobody offered Anthony a DNA test until we called on his behalf.
Meantime, all of his personal information including his social security number was provided to the mother who made the allegation long before paternity was confirmed.
.
That's the allegation that threatened to ruin Anthony William's life. "You have to come home and tell your wife, hey I have a kid...it's kind of sad," said Anthony.
Across the country in Seattle Washington, a single mother of 4 accused Anthony of being the father of her 5-year-old daughter.
"They have my social security number, my address," said Anthony.
Anthony was married with children and living in Colorado when the child was allegedly conceived in Mesa, Arizona. The child's mother had a filed in a child support claim in Seattle, Washington. Anthony told us, "she got pregnant in Mesa, Arizona, never been to Mesa, Arizona, had the kid in Portland, Oregon, never been to Oregon, now she lives in Seattle, Washington, never been to Seattle, Washington ever."
Still no matter how many times Anthony tried to explain to Washington's human services department, no one would listen. "I called Washington and they were angered that I called. They said, 'you need to contact Colorado, leave us alone.'"
The case was turned over to Arapahoe County Child Support Enforcement. They contacted Anthony's employer and started the process of garnishing his wages.
With no where else to turn, Anthony contacted FOX 31.
Arapahoe County officials agreed to give Anthony a DNA test. He did right away. But then he was told the mother who made the allegation was making every excuse not to do hers... Weeks turned into months. And that when we started demanding answers from Washington state..."
Washington's department of Human Services eventually sent Anthony a letter admitting, he was "mistakenly identified as a possible father."
"Federal law requires employers to report newly hired staff to a national data base. The data base matched your name with our non custodial parent (with the same name) and provided us your social security number. We have now "confirmed you are not the person we are looking for."
An Arapahoe County spokesperson says their agency relied on the incorrect information provided by Washington State, "if you have a common name and some generalities given by a custodial parent in another state and that's all they can remember government has to rely on that information."
That spokesperson admits mistake can happen if you have a common name, but she says it is rare. "In Arapahoe county in 2009 we had 479 cases that we processed from other states. This is the only case that we are aware of that was a mistake in identity."
If you are the victim of mistaken identity you can demand a DNA test. Still, nobody offered Anthony a DNA test until we called on his behalf.
Meantime, all of his personal information including his social security number was provided to the mother who made the allegation long before paternity was confirmed.
.
