THIS CASE STARTED IN 1993. IN 1994 MR. GARLATHY RELOCATED TO
CANADA. IT TOOK UNTIL 2002 TO LOCATE HIS WHEREABOUTS THE
FIRST TIME. As noted on 12/22/99 the US Attorney’s General Office
requested enforcement action regarding the dormant case re: Holderman
v. Garlathy. On January 16, 2002 once Mr. Garlathy was located
"FOUND", the Family Maintenance Enforcement Program (FMEP) moved
this case from inactive to active status. As of June 11, 2002, I took it upon
myself to fax a concern letter to the FMEP requesting assistance of Mr.
Garlathy’s immigration status as well as warning the FMEP of flight risk,
nothing was accomplished despite the warning of Mr. Garlathy’s probable
action.
On July 17, 2002, the Lehigh County courts issued a bench warrant for Mr.
Garlathy and notified Mr. Garlathy of the issuance. In a letter written by
Mr. Garlathy and sent to Lehigh County Domestic Relations Section (DRS)
time stamped February 14, 2003, please note the admission of “I have not
resided in Pennsylvania at any time in the last eight years and therefore
have no rights to PA legal aid”. Mr. Garlathy on behalf of his FMEP
delegate was notified that a minimum payment of $100.00 needed to be
paid toward his child support balance if he was to remain in B.C.,
Canada. Therefore, on 4/12/2003 he kindly did so, I was fortunate to
receive $96.60. On April 11, 2005, I formally requested my personal
caseworker here at the Lehigh County DRS, to again request Federal
Assistance in the enforcement of the current court order for it is
considered a Felony once the amount of arrears exceeds $10,000.00.
Correspondingly, B.C. was attempting to set up laws, which required
multiple court hearings regarding Mr. Garlathy's situation of allowing an
illegal immigrant to be garnished through a bank account instead of
giving the U.S. the right to extradite him back to PA, or turning him over
the the Canadian Immigration Office for legal extradition. The Bureau of
Child Support Enforcement was contacted and notification of their
limited assistance and was received on June 14, 2005. Finally, on October
4, 2005, I was kindly notified by the FMEP that this case was to be placed
back into inactive status (MISSING) because they could not find Mr.
Garlathy at any of his previously known residences, and that a B.C.
Warrant had been issued for his immediate arrest.
The issue of fact is that the FMEP knowing the federal laws, which govern
the country of Canada were being violated. FEDERAL CANADIAN LAW
STATES THAT IF A PERSON RESIDES IN CANADA FOR OVER 10 YEARS
AND DOES NOT ATTEMPT TO BECOME A LEGAL CITIZEN OF CANADA,
THE IMMIGRATION OFFICE IS TO EXTRADITE SAID INDIVIDUAL TO
THE BORDER OF NATIVE COUNTRY. Numerous hearings were
conducted in order to implement new laws regarding garnishment of an
illegal citizen via a bank account whom had resided in the Canadian
Territory illegally for over ten years yet FMEP had written notification of
Mr. Garlathy’s probable flight risk. NOW WE ARE REQUESTING
ASSISTANCE FROM THE WORLD WIDE WEB --- THANK YOU ;-)
CANADA. IT TOOK UNTIL 2002 TO LOCATE HIS WHEREABOUTS THE
FIRST TIME. As noted on 12/22/99 the US Attorney’s General Office
requested enforcement action regarding the dormant case re: Holderman
v. Garlathy. On January 16, 2002 once Mr. Garlathy was located
"FOUND", the Family Maintenance Enforcement Program (FMEP) moved
this case from inactive to active status. As of June 11, 2002, I took it upon
myself to fax a concern letter to the FMEP requesting assistance of Mr.
Garlathy’s immigration status as well as warning the FMEP of flight risk,
nothing was accomplished despite the warning of Mr. Garlathy’s probable
action.
On July 17, 2002, the Lehigh County courts issued a bench warrant for Mr.
Garlathy and notified Mr. Garlathy of the issuance. In a letter written by
Mr. Garlathy and sent to Lehigh County Domestic Relations Section (DRS)
time stamped February 14, 2003, please note the admission of “I have not
resided in Pennsylvania at any time in the last eight years and therefore
have no rights to PA legal aid”. Mr. Garlathy on behalf of his FMEP
delegate was notified that a minimum payment of $100.00 needed to be
paid toward his child support balance if he was to remain in B.C.,
Canada. Therefore, on 4/12/2003 he kindly did so, I was fortunate to
receive $96.60. On April 11, 2005, I formally requested my personal
caseworker here at the Lehigh County DRS, to again request Federal
Assistance in the enforcement of the current court order for it is
considered a Felony once the amount of arrears exceeds $10,000.00.
Correspondingly, B.C. was attempting to set up laws, which required
multiple court hearings regarding Mr. Garlathy's situation of allowing an
illegal immigrant to be garnished through a bank account instead of
giving the U.S. the right to extradite him back to PA, or turning him over
the the Canadian Immigration Office for legal extradition. The Bureau of
Child Support Enforcement was contacted and notification of their
limited assistance and was received on June 14, 2005. Finally, on October
4, 2005, I was kindly notified by the FMEP that this case was to be placed
back into inactive status (MISSING) because they could not find Mr.
Garlathy at any of his previously known residences, and that a B.C.
Warrant had been issued for his immediate arrest.
The issue of fact is that the FMEP knowing the federal laws, which govern
the country of Canada were being violated. FEDERAL CANADIAN LAW
STATES THAT IF A PERSON RESIDES IN CANADA FOR OVER 10 YEARS
AND DOES NOT ATTEMPT TO BECOME A LEGAL CITIZEN OF CANADA,
THE IMMIGRATION OFFICE IS TO EXTRADITE SAID INDIVIDUAL TO
THE BORDER OF NATIVE COUNTRY. Numerous hearings were
conducted in order to implement new laws regarding garnishment of an
illegal citizen via a bank account whom had resided in the Canadian
Territory illegally for over ten years yet FMEP had written notification of
Mr. Garlathy’s probable flight risk. NOW WE ARE REQUESTING
ASSISTANCE FROM THE WORLD WIDE WEB --- THANK YOU ;-)
| ASSIST A MANHUNT FOR AN INTERNATIONAL DEADBEAT JOSHUA GARLATHY / GARDNER. LAST KNOWN VERIFIED LOCATION, B.C. CANADA - LOCATED WORKING OFF THE BOOKS IN SISTER'S COOKIE COMPANY - LIZ LOVELY, INC. IN WAITSFIELD, VERMONT 4/07 - NOW ON THE RUN AGAIN. |
P.O. BOX 701
EMMAUS, PA 18049
EMMAUS, PA 18049
 |
| |
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| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
PHONE: 610.217.9099
bethannent@yahoo.com
bethannent@yahoo.com
| WE NEED HELP LOCATING DEADBEAT PARENT MR. JOSHUA GARLATHY |
| A CONFIDENTIAL INFORMANT GAVE INFORMATION WHICH LED TO HIS PERSONAL MySpace PAGE @ badmnd@yahoo.com |
CLICK TO VIEW THE PROFILE POSTED ON MySpace.com:
www.myspace.com/missingdeadbeatdad
www.myspace.com/missingdeadbeatdad
| IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW HAS A MISSING LOVED ONE - CHILD, DEADBEAT, ETC. & ARE EXPERIENCING DIFFICULTY LOCATING/ENFORCING SAID INDIVIDUAL - CONTACT BETH ANN TODAY FOR DISCOUNTED RATES TO ESTABLISHING A MYSPACE.COM ACCOUNT OR PERSONAL YAHOO WEB SITE |
| JOSHUA GARLATHY IS AN INTERNATIONAL DEADBEAT DAD AND HAS EVADED AUTHORITIES SINCE 2005 IN B.C. CANADA. HIS IMMEDIATE FAMILY HAVE NOT CONTACTED ANY AUTHORITIES REGARDING HIS WHEREABOUTS. BETH ANN WILL POST HIS PICTURE UNTIL JOSHUA GARLATHY PROVES THAT HE IS NOT GOING TO PLAY "MAN ON THE MOOVE" BY PROVIDING VIABLE PROOF OF HIS PHYSICAL RESIDENCE TO DOMESTIC RELATIONS, LEHIGH COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA CERTIFIED / VERIFIED. NEWS MEDIA & CASE SYNOPSIS TO DATE PRESENT TO PAST: |
THERE WILL BE A
REWARD OFFERED
ONCE ARREARS ARE
PAID IN FULL TO
ANYONE WHOM
ASSISTS IN LOCATING
MR. JOSHUA
GARLATHY
REWARD OFFERED
ONCE ARREARS ARE
PAID IN FULL TO
ANYONE WHOM
ASSISTS IN LOCATING
MR. JOSHUA
GARLATHY
IF YOU ARE
EXPERIENCING
ENFORCEMENT
ISSUES, PLEASE
CONTACT BETH ANN
TODAY. SHE IS
ATTEMPTING TO
ASSESS HOW AND
WHAT LEGISLATION
OR LEGAL
IMPLEMENTATION
WOULD GREATLY
SERVE WORKING
SINGLE PRIMARY
PARENTS.
ALL MONETARY
DONATIONS TOWARD
THIS CAUSE WILL
RECEIVE A THETA
FLAME GIFT IN THE
MAIL. SO PLEASE
LEAVE YOUR NAME
AND ADDRESS WITH
YOUR CHECK, MONEY
ORDER, ETC. SO THAT
WE CAN THANK YOU
APPROPRIATELY.
ALL DONATIONS
SHOULD BE SENT TO:
THE APPREHENSION
FUND CO: BETH ANN
ENTERPRISES
P.O. BOX 701
EMMAUS, PA 18049
EXPERIENCING
ENFORCEMENT
ISSUES, PLEASE
CONTACT BETH ANN
TODAY. SHE IS
ATTEMPTING TO
ASSESS HOW AND
WHAT LEGISLATION
OR LEGAL
IMPLEMENTATION
WOULD GREATLY
SERVE WORKING
SINGLE PRIMARY
PARENTS.
ALL MONETARY
DONATIONS TOWARD
THIS CAUSE WILL
RECEIVE A THETA
FLAME GIFT IN THE
MAIL. SO PLEASE
LEAVE YOUR NAME
AND ADDRESS WITH
YOUR CHECK, MONEY
ORDER, ETC. SO THAT
WE CAN THANK YOU
APPROPRIATELY.
ALL DONATIONS
SHOULD BE SENT TO:
THE APPREHENSION
FUND CO: BETH ANN
ENTERPRISES
P.O. BOX 701
EMMAUS, PA 18049
| ALL MARKETING TECHNIQUES CURRENTLY BEING UTILIZED IN THIS MEDIA CAMPAIGN WERE LEARNED THROUGH READING THIS REFERENCE GUIDE. THE COST IS $15.00 U.S. + SHIPPING WHICH IS NOTHING COMPARED TO THE KNOWLEDGE IT EMPOWERS ONE WITH ;-) |
| CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO VIEW THE AUTHOR: JULIUS VITALI |
| (C) 2007 - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED - PRESS PRIVILEGES WEBSITE DESIGN BY: BETH ANN ENTERPRISES |
 |  |  |  |
WWW.BETHANNENTERPRISES.COM
UPDATE, UPDATE,
UPDATE
DUE TO A
MYSPACE.COM USER
I WAS LED TO MR.
GARLATHY'S OWN
PERSONAL
MYSPACE.COM WEB
PAGE, VIEW BELOW:
JOSHUA GARLATHY
ONCE HE WAS
LOCATED HERE, I
DUG AROUND SOME
CRAWLER SEARCH
ENGINES AND
FOUND HIS
RESIDENCE TO BE
WAITSFIELD, VT.
THIS IS WHERE HIS
SISTER LIZ HOLTZ
RUNS HER COOKIE
COMPANY LIZ
LOVELY, INC.
ALTHOUGH HER
BROTHER WAS
CAUGHT WITH HIS
"WEBBED" HAND IN
HER "LOVELY"
COOKIE JAR, SHE
STILL MAKES THE
MEANEST GINGER
SNAPDRAGON
AROUND.
SO I CONTACTED A
BOUNTY HUNTER
IN THE LOCAL AREA
AND TRAVELED UP
THERE. WE WERE
ABLE TO VERIFY
HIS EMPLOYMENT
AT LIZ LOVELY,
INC. WHEN HE
ANSWERED THE
PHONE AND
IDENTIFIED
HIMSELF AS
JOSHUA.
NEW ENGLAND
BAIL BONDS
TRAVELED WITH
ME TO THE COOKIE
PLANT (WE HAD A
TOUR WITH
CHILDREN
SCHEDULED) AND I
WAS ABLE TO
SHAKE JOSHUA
GARLATHY'S HAND.
THE MORNING
CALL HAS WRITTEN
AN ARTICLE ON
THIS INTERNET
ORDEAL PLEASE
VIEW: MORNING
CALL
UPDATE
DUE TO A
MYSPACE.COM USER
I WAS LED TO MR.
GARLATHY'S OWN
PERSONAL
MYSPACE.COM WEB
PAGE, VIEW BELOW:
JOSHUA GARLATHY
ONCE HE WAS
LOCATED HERE, I
DUG AROUND SOME
CRAWLER SEARCH
ENGINES AND
FOUND HIS
RESIDENCE TO BE
WAITSFIELD, VT.
THIS IS WHERE HIS
SISTER LIZ HOLTZ
RUNS HER COOKIE
COMPANY LIZ
LOVELY, INC.
ALTHOUGH HER
BROTHER WAS
CAUGHT WITH HIS
"WEBBED" HAND IN
HER "LOVELY"
COOKIE JAR, SHE
STILL MAKES THE
MEANEST GINGER
SNAPDRAGON
AROUND.
SO I CONTACTED A
BOUNTY HUNTER
IN THE LOCAL AREA
AND TRAVELED UP
THERE. WE WERE
ABLE TO VERIFY
HIS EMPLOYMENT
AT LIZ LOVELY,
INC. WHEN HE
ANSWERED THE
PHONE AND
IDENTIFIED
HIMSELF AS
JOSHUA.
NEW ENGLAND
BAIL BONDS
TRAVELED WITH
ME TO THE COOKIE
PLANT (WE HAD A
TOUR WITH
CHILDREN
SCHEDULED) AND I
WAS ABLE TO
SHAKE JOSHUA
GARLATHY'S HAND.
THE MORNING
CALL HAS WRITTEN
AN ARTICLE ON
THIS INTERNET
ORDEAL PLEASE
VIEW: MORNING
CALL
Long arm of the Internet reaches for Deadbeats - Contact the Morning Call
Mom's MySpace page digs up valuable tip in child-support case
By Joanna Poncavage, Of: The Morning Call Newspaper - May 15, 2007
To collect child support, a single parent might hire a private attorney, file for a court order through a
government domestic relations office, or use a private collection agency. ''Those are the three options,''
says David Conder, director of the Child Support Enforcement Council, a professional organization for
private collection agencies.
Those are the three official options. An Emmaus mother, frustrated by 13 years of official stagnation in
the usual channels, chose Generation C's fourth way -- that's C for ''user-generated content.''
Beth Ann Holderman in January put her case for her daughter's child support on MySpace.com, the social
networking site widely used for virtual meeting and greeting.
( http://www.myspace.com/missingdeadbeatdad )
It delivered what domestic relations didn't: Four months later, she had an anonymous tip, and she had
her man. He was in Vermont. She had a bounty hunter ready to handcuff him and take him to Lehigh
County. She also had mercy.
''It would have been more satisfying to the ego to hook him and transport him, but dad working is better
than dad in jail,'' says Holderman, who did what she felt was best for her daughter and decided to transfer
enforcement of the child support order to Vermont.
Whether any child support payments will be forthcoming, any time soon is yet to be seen. The
bureaucratic wheels of the child support enforcement system are much slower than the speed of
information in cyberspace.
''The world is not as big as you think when you utilize the World Wide Web,'' says Holderman.
Like many other parents of children who don't receive support payments, Holderman might have
accepted the status quo and gone on with her life. But her daughter didn't.
''She's the one who asked me to find him. That's why I'm doing this,'' she says.
When creating her MySpace page, instead of the usual personal details and photos set to a soundtrack of
favorite music, Holderman posted her plea: ''Hello World Wide Web -- I am requesting world-wide
assistance. Here is a synopsis of the case to date, and I have all documentation supporting the facts,'' her
tale begins. She also posted a picture of her child's father.
A tipster responds:
The anonymous tip directed her to another MySpace page, one that had been posted by her daughter's
father, where, under an alias, he dubbed himself ''Man on the Move.'' He described himself as ''your typical
eclectic, largely acoustic, fingerstyle, alt-tuning singer/songwriter'' with a ''fairly anti-corporate''
philosophy looking for a recording contract or a vegan, organic commune. ''I really don't know where I am
headed, but I'd like to travel the world.'' ( http://www.myspace.com/joshuagar )
Armed with the alias, Holderman followed his virtual trail through an online vegan forum and dating
match site, to the Web site of his sister's Vermont vegan bakery. ( http://www.lizlovely.com) And when
the bounty hunter ( http://www.newenglandbailbonds.com )assisting Holderman called the bakery,
Joshua Garlathy, her daughter's father, answered the phone.
Holderman, 35, had filed for child support in 1993, shortly after their daughter, Sahrin, was born. She
and Garlathy met while both were studying psychology at Indiana University of Pennsylvania in western
Pennsylvania. ''The idea was to stay together,'' she says. Things didn't turn out that way.
When Garlathy was laid off from a minimum-wage job, Holderman filed for support through Indiana
County's domestic relations office as part of her application for welfare. When Garlathy failed to pay an
assessment of $100 per month, his driver's license was suspended. Then, he disappeared into Canada.
Originally from Emmaus, Holderman moved back to the Lehigh Valley. In 1998, Garlathy contacted her
via a mutual friend's e-mail, with hopes of re-entering Sahrin's life.
He wanted Sahrin to spend summers in Canada with him and his wife, son and stepdaughter. But he was
unable to pay child support, he wrote. ''I have been sick for the last four years and haven't had a job in
that time.''
Holderman turned his e-mail address over to her Lehigh County Domestic Relations caseworker.
''I hadn't heard from him in five years,'' she says. ''How could I trust him to take responsibility for her?''
Last Updated: May 15, 2007 Pg.2
Long arm of the Internet reaches for deadbeats
Mom's MySpace page digs up valuable tip in child-support case
By Joanna Poncavage Of The Morning Call
On the move:
Garlathy's e-mail account yielded an address in British Columbia, so Holderman signed her case over to
Canadian child-enforcement authorities. When Garlathy failed to appear for a hearing in Lehigh County
court in 2002, a bench warrant was issued for his arrest. Several years of legal proceedings followed, but
by 2006, Canada no longer had a current address for him.
At the end of January 2007, Holderman received a letter from Lehigh County domestic relations stating
they had an address for Garlathy in Portland, Ore. She was given the opportunity to transfer enforcement
to that state, but chose not to, afraid that by the time the case was transferred, Garlathy would be gone
elsewhere.
Holderman may know more about her chances for success than the average single mom: From 2003 until
2006, she worked as a court monitor for Lehigh County Domestic Relations, transcribing the words of
hundreds of child support hearings.
That's why on April 18, Holderman drove to Vermont. The 2002-issued civil bench warrant she carried
for Garlathy was valid in Pennsylvania only. At least, she was determined to get proof of his residence and
employment.
Money sought:
In the 13 years since Sahrin was born, Holderman says Garlathy has paid a total of $410 in support, and
owes tens of thousands of dollars more.
Garlathy declined a request to present his side of the story. ''My attorney has advised against any attempt
to try this case in the media,'' he wrote in an E-mail.
A press release from his employer (Sister, Liz Holtz), however, calls Holderman a ''stalker mom'' and states
that Garlathy, finally well enough to work, recently made his first child support payment since 2002.
Rosemary McFee, director of Lehigh County Domestic Relations, says her office had also been notified of a
possible Vermont address for Garlathy, and would have initiated the paperwork needed to verify it, and
enforce support collection.
Holderman says Lehigh County found Garlathy because she told the state office of child support
enforcement where he was.
Her efforts to track down a delinquent dad may be a glimpse into the future, but her plight is all too
human.
Nationally in 2005, state and county agencies collected $17 billion from non-custodial parents -- about 85
percent are fathers -- for 8 million children. According to the Child Support Enforcement Program, $12
billion owed by non-custodial parents to another 8 million children was not collected.
In Lehigh County alone, where Holderman's case is on file, the domestic relations office in 2006 had
15,000 open cases that paid $44,153,894 in child support. Unpaid support totaled $50,852,621, says
McFee.
Most people who pay support cooperate with the system. According to the American Payroll Association, a
nonprofit professional organization, more than 70 percent of child support is paid through wage
withholding dollars.
In the cases with enforcement problems, domestic relations relies on automated processes and data
matches that help locate people through their driver's licenses, Social Security number or employment.
But if someone isn't on record, they can be hard to find.
Holderman got the idea of using MySpace (''a place for friends'') when she saw a report on CNN about the
family of a Chicago dentist that was trying to find his murderer using MySpace.
MySpace took her first page down, and she was told posting pictures of other people was not allowed. She
then built a MySpace page accessible from her Web page design business,
http://www.bethannenterprises.com .
Getting the word out:
''The Internet is the largest mass media Mecca ever and it was the only way I was going to get the word out
and notify the public that he had been missing since 2005 and no governmental action had been taken,''
says Holderman.
Last Updated: May 15, 2007 Page 3
Long arm of the Internet reaches for deadbeats
Mom's MySpace page digs up valuable tip in child-support case
By Joanna Poncavage Of The Morning Call
With so much overdue child support out there, other families are using MySpace to spread the word about
debts owed. A search for ''child support,'' ''deadbeat parents'' or ''deadbeat dads'' turns up hundreds of
thousands of profiles: children or mothers seeking missing fathers, non-custodial fathers making their
case that the system is part of the problem, and a few fans of the alternative/punk band, Deadbeat Dads.
Private agencies look to MySpace for leads, too. ''That is one of the things our investigators will check,''
says Tim Turner, director of enforcement with Support Collectors, a private agency in Minneapolis.
''People brag about how much money they are making. They post pictures of their Jag or Harley, trying
to woo the women, then go to court and plead poverty'' instead of paying support, he says.
Power of the Internet
State and local child support collection agencies have recognized the power of the Internet, too.
Montgomery County was the first in Pennsylvania to create a Web site to list the names of people with
outstanding warrants for both criminal and domestic cases. In six years, back child support owed has
fallen from about $11 million to about $3.2 million, says Sheriff John P. Durante. It's a very active Web
site, updated every day, and a lot of people look at it, he adds.
Lehigh County Domestic Relations is looking into putting deadbeat parents on a Web site like Montgomery
County does, or publishing names in the newspaper like Berks County does, says Rosemary McFee,
Director.
Child support collection efforts can take even more creative turns. A county agency in Ohio recently
started putting pictures of delinquent parents on pizza boxes.
''The Internet has wrought many great things, but I think it's a technology that's constantly changing
and the way we use it is constantly changing,'' says John Gorham Palfrey VII, law professor and executive
director of Harvard University's Berkman Center, at 10 years the nation's oldest research center on
Internet law. ''Whether it becomes a force for good or for bad is very much up to us, and I think it's a work
in progress.''
That it turns people into creators of information instead of just consumers is positive, he adds. ''My hope is
that it leads to more civic participation and active involvement in the shape of culture and meaning.''
''There's a new world of collaboration on the Web,'' says Don Tapscott, author of ''Wikinomics,'' a book with
the subtitle, ''How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything,'' that describes our new age of participation:
''It's getting a million minds to work on a problem, instead of a department. That thing you are looking for
is somewhere out there, outside the boundaries of your bureaucracy.''
joanna.poncavage@mcall.com
610-820-6754 TO VIEW THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE ONLINE: CLICK HERE
Mom's MySpace page digs up valuable tip in child-support case
By Joanna Poncavage, Of: The Morning Call Newspaper - May 15, 2007
To collect child support, a single parent might hire a private attorney, file for a court order through a
government domestic relations office, or use a private collection agency. ''Those are the three options,''
says David Conder, director of the Child Support Enforcement Council, a professional organization for
private collection agencies.
Those are the three official options. An Emmaus mother, frustrated by 13 years of official stagnation in
the usual channels, chose Generation C's fourth way -- that's C for ''user-generated content.''
Beth Ann Holderman in January put her case for her daughter's child support on MySpace.com, the social
networking site widely used for virtual meeting and greeting.
( http://www.myspace.com/missingdeadbeatdad )
It delivered what domestic relations didn't: Four months later, she had an anonymous tip, and she had
her man. He was in Vermont. She had a bounty hunter ready to handcuff him and take him to Lehigh
County. She also had mercy.
''It would have been more satisfying to the ego to hook him and transport him, but dad working is better
than dad in jail,'' says Holderman, who did what she felt was best for her daughter and decided to transfer
enforcement of the child support order to Vermont.
Whether any child support payments will be forthcoming, any time soon is yet to be seen. The
bureaucratic wheels of the child support enforcement system are much slower than the speed of
information in cyberspace.
''The world is not as big as you think when you utilize the World Wide Web,'' says Holderman.
Like many other parents of children who don't receive support payments, Holderman might have
accepted the status quo and gone on with her life. But her daughter didn't.
''She's the one who asked me to find him. That's why I'm doing this,'' she says.
When creating her MySpace page, instead of the usual personal details and photos set to a soundtrack of
favorite music, Holderman posted her plea: ''Hello World Wide Web -- I am requesting world-wide
assistance. Here is a synopsis of the case to date, and I have all documentation supporting the facts,'' her
tale begins. She also posted a picture of her child's father.
A tipster responds:
The anonymous tip directed her to another MySpace page, one that had been posted by her daughter's
father, where, under an alias, he dubbed himself ''Man on the Move.'' He described himself as ''your typical
eclectic, largely acoustic, fingerstyle, alt-tuning singer/songwriter'' with a ''fairly anti-corporate''
philosophy looking for a recording contract or a vegan, organic commune. ''I really don't know where I am
headed, but I'd like to travel the world.'' ( http://www.myspace.com/joshuagar )
Armed with the alias, Holderman followed his virtual trail through an online vegan forum and dating
match site, to the Web site of his sister's Vermont vegan bakery. ( http://www.lizlovely.com) And when
the bounty hunter ( http://www.newenglandbailbonds.com )assisting Holderman called the bakery,
Joshua Garlathy, her daughter's father, answered the phone.
Holderman, 35, had filed for child support in 1993, shortly after their daughter, Sahrin, was born. She
and Garlathy met while both were studying psychology at Indiana University of Pennsylvania in western
Pennsylvania. ''The idea was to stay together,'' she says. Things didn't turn out that way.
When Garlathy was laid off from a minimum-wage job, Holderman filed for support through Indiana
County's domestic relations office as part of her application for welfare. When Garlathy failed to pay an
assessment of $100 per month, his driver's license was suspended. Then, he disappeared into Canada.
Originally from Emmaus, Holderman moved back to the Lehigh Valley. In 1998, Garlathy contacted her
via a mutual friend's e-mail, with hopes of re-entering Sahrin's life.
He wanted Sahrin to spend summers in Canada with him and his wife, son and stepdaughter. But he was
unable to pay child support, he wrote. ''I have been sick for the last four years and haven't had a job in
that time.''
Holderman turned his e-mail address over to her Lehigh County Domestic Relations caseworker.
''I hadn't heard from him in five years,'' she says. ''How could I trust him to take responsibility for her?''
Last Updated: May 15, 2007 Pg.2
Long arm of the Internet reaches for deadbeats
Mom's MySpace page digs up valuable tip in child-support case
By Joanna Poncavage Of The Morning Call
On the move:
Garlathy's e-mail account yielded an address in British Columbia, so Holderman signed her case over to
Canadian child-enforcement authorities. When Garlathy failed to appear for a hearing in Lehigh County
court in 2002, a bench warrant was issued for his arrest. Several years of legal proceedings followed, but
by 2006, Canada no longer had a current address for him.
At the end of January 2007, Holderman received a letter from Lehigh County domestic relations stating
they had an address for Garlathy in Portland, Ore. She was given the opportunity to transfer enforcement
to that state, but chose not to, afraid that by the time the case was transferred, Garlathy would be gone
elsewhere.
Holderman may know more about her chances for success than the average single mom: From 2003 until
2006, she worked as a court monitor for Lehigh County Domestic Relations, transcribing the words of
hundreds of child support hearings.
That's why on April 18, Holderman drove to Vermont. The 2002-issued civil bench warrant she carried
for Garlathy was valid in Pennsylvania only. At least, she was determined to get proof of his residence and
employment.
Money sought:
In the 13 years since Sahrin was born, Holderman says Garlathy has paid a total of $410 in support, and
owes tens of thousands of dollars more.
Garlathy declined a request to present his side of the story. ''My attorney has advised against any attempt
to try this case in the media,'' he wrote in an E-mail.
A press release from his employer (Sister, Liz Holtz), however, calls Holderman a ''stalker mom'' and states
that Garlathy, finally well enough to work, recently made his first child support payment since 2002.
Rosemary McFee, director of Lehigh County Domestic Relations, says her office had also been notified of a
possible Vermont address for Garlathy, and would have initiated the paperwork needed to verify it, and
enforce support collection.
Holderman says Lehigh County found Garlathy because she told the state office of child support
enforcement where he was.
Her efforts to track down a delinquent dad may be a glimpse into the future, but her plight is all too
human.
Nationally in 2005, state and county agencies collected $17 billion from non-custodial parents -- about 85
percent are fathers -- for 8 million children. According to the Child Support Enforcement Program, $12
billion owed by non-custodial parents to another 8 million children was not collected.
In Lehigh County alone, where Holderman's case is on file, the domestic relations office in 2006 had
15,000 open cases that paid $44,153,894 in child support. Unpaid support totaled $50,852,621, says
McFee.
Most people who pay support cooperate with the system. According to the American Payroll Association, a
nonprofit professional organization, more than 70 percent of child support is paid through wage
withholding dollars.
In the cases with enforcement problems, domestic relations relies on automated processes and data
matches that help locate people through their driver's licenses, Social Security number or employment.
But if someone isn't on record, they can be hard to find.
Holderman got the idea of using MySpace (''a place for friends'') when she saw a report on CNN about the
family of a Chicago dentist that was trying to find his murderer using MySpace.
MySpace took her first page down, and she was told posting pictures of other people was not allowed. She
then built a MySpace page accessible from her Web page design business,
http://www.bethannenterprises.com .
Getting the word out:
''The Internet is the largest mass media Mecca ever and it was the only way I was going to get the word out
and notify the public that he had been missing since 2005 and no governmental action had been taken,''
says Holderman.
Last Updated: May 15, 2007 Page 3
Long arm of the Internet reaches for deadbeats
Mom's MySpace page digs up valuable tip in child-support case
By Joanna Poncavage Of The Morning Call
With so much overdue child support out there, other families are using MySpace to spread the word about
debts owed. A search for ''child support,'' ''deadbeat parents'' or ''deadbeat dads'' turns up hundreds of
thousands of profiles: children or mothers seeking missing fathers, non-custodial fathers making their
case that the system is part of the problem, and a few fans of the alternative/punk band, Deadbeat Dads.
Private agencies look to MySpace for leads, too. ''That is one of the things our investigators will check,''
says Tim Turner, director of enforcement with Support Collectors, a private agency in Minneapolis.
''People brag about how much money they are making. They post pictures of their Jag or Harley, trying
to woo the women, then go to court and plead poverty'' instead of paying support, he says.
Power of the Internet
State and local child support collection agencies have recognized the power of the Internet, too.
Montgomery County was the first in Pennsylvania to create a Web site to list the names of people with
outstanding warrants for both criminal and domestic cases. In six years, back child support owed has
fallen from about $11 million to about $3.2 million, says Sheriff John P. Durante. It's a very active Web
site, updated every day, and a lot of people look at it, he adds.
Lehigh County Domestic Relations is looking into putting deadbeat parents on a Web site like Montgomery
County does, or publishing names in the newspaper like Berks County does, says Rosemary McFee,
Director.
Child support collection efforts can take even more creative turns. A county agency in Ohio recently
started putting pictures of delinquent parents on pizza boxes.
''The Internet has wrought many great things, but I think it's a technology that's constantly changing
and the way we use it is constantly changing,'' says John Gorham Palfrey VII, law professor and executive
director of Harvard University's Berkman Center, at 10 years the nation's oldest research center on
Internet law. ''Whether it becomes a force for good or for bad is very much up to us, and I think it's a work
in progress.''
That it turns people into creators of information instead of just consumers is positive, he adds. ''My hope is
that it leads to more civic participation and active involvement in the shape of culture and meaning.''
''There's a new world of collaboration on the Web,'' says Don Tapscott, author of ''Wikinomics,'' a book with
the subtitle, ''How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything,'' that describes our new age of participation:
''It's getting a million minds to work on a problem, instead of a department. That thing you are looking for
is somewhere out there, outside the boundaries of your bureaucracy.''
joanna.poncavage@mcall.com
610-820-6754 TO VIEW THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE ONLINE: CLICK HERE
PRESS LINKS PRESENT TO PAST:
"USE INTERNET SOURCES TO FIND DEADBEAT PARENTS" - Letter to the
Editor - posted 6/9/07 - by Wanda Sochanski -
"LONG ARM OF THE INTERNET" posted 5-15-07 - AVAILABLE BELOW
"MySpace.com IS NO PLACE TO HIDE" - EAST PENN NEWS
"USE INTERNET SOURCES TO FIND DEADBEAT PARENTS" - Letter to the
Editor - posted 6/9/07 - by Wanda Sochanski -
"LONG ARM OF THE INTERNET" posted 5-15-07 - AVAILABLE BELOW
"MySpace.com IS NO PLACE TO HIDE" - EAST PENN NEWS