Man jailed after adult daughter doesn't get GED

[KBCraig]

Insane! 

http://www.wcpo.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=28d2acca-9947-44cc-8831-9859f1f6137e

Man Jailed After Daughter Fails To Get GED

Last Update: 5/09 3:54 pm 

Reported by: Deb Silverman
Photographed by: 9News
Web produced by: Neil Relyea


A Fairfield man is in jail because his daughter hasn't gotten her General Equivalency Diploma (GED).

A judge ordered the father to stay on top of his daughter's education months ago and when that order wasn't followed, Brian Gegner was sentenced to 180-days in the Butler County jail.

The daughter, Brittany Gegner, says her father shouldn't be punished for her problems.

Especially, she says because she's now 18, an adult.

"It's ridiculously wrong," said Brittany Gegner.

"Of all the punishments they could have given him, to make him go to jail?," she asked. "I mean, probation – until I get my GED – would be reasonable, but to send him to jail? That's overboard."

Butler County Juvenile Court Judge David Niehaus ordered Gegner to jail for contributing to the delinquency of a minor by not following a court order which required Gegner to be sure his daughter got her GED.

This comes after ongoing problems of Brittany skipping classes at Fairfield High School and then, Butler Tech.

While Brian Gegner had custody of her, Brittany says it was while she lived with her mother that she was truant.

"I'm about to be 19 and my Dad's being punished for something I did when I was 16," she said.

"It's like I should, if anybody should be punished for this," said Brittany. "I would way rather me go to jail than my Dad."

"They probably should have punished me if they were going to punish anybody," said Brittany's mother Shana Roach. "Because she did live with me at the time, but because he had the custody, that's why he's being punished."

"But I don't understand the punishment all together because she's going to school, she's been going for four months," said Roach. "The only thing that's holding her back is she can't pass her math test."

Brittany has a daughter who's about 18-months-old.

She says she's determined to pass the GED for her daughter – and her father.

The judge says if she passes the test, her father could get out of jail before his six-months sentence is up.

Brittany's step-mother worries the time in jail will ruin their family.

She says he could lose the job he's worked for 15-years.

"I never dreamed they would put him in jail for this – for six months – it's crazy," said Stephanie Gegner, Brittany's step-mother.

"He has no control over what his adult daughter does," she said. "He just doesn't."

Court administrators say that even though Brittany is an adult now, the case remains active in their court because she was a juvenile when the problems started.

They say this type of punishment is rare and reserved for extreme cases when court orders aren't met.

[margomaps]

O.  M.  G.

That's truly unbelievable.

[NJLiberty]

Never let it be said that the government can't come up with creative ways to screw things up. Yet another reason I will keep my daughter schooled at home...she can't be truant 

George

[Kat Kanning]

wow 

[NJLiberty]

Funny how education is a mafia function... until someone has to go to jail.

Never thought of it that way, but oh so true!

[Pat McCotter]

I need some duct tape for my head!!!!!!!!!!!

[Kat Kanning]

I'm really having fun with the gov'ment/mafia substitution.

[David]

Ohio again.    

[KBCraig]

So, this father, whose adult daughter is about to turn 19, who lives with her mother, fiance, and 18 month old daughter, is going to be tossed back in jail if the daughter misses a class?


http://www.wcpo.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=70c23e06-3f25-4daa-a343-eb3814bb0668

Judge Releases Father Jailed Over GED

Last Update: 5/17 12:12 am
Reported by: Deb Silverman
Web produced by: Ian Preuth

The Fairfield father who was locked up after his daughter didn't get her GED will be released from jail Friday.

Butler county Juvenile Court Judge David Niehaus ordered Brian Gegner to be sure his daughter attends a GED preparation class four days a week. If not, he'll go back to jail.

The ruling came after the Judge gave Brian Gegner a tough talk saying he was jailed because he'd been "totally neglectful." The punishment came after the court had multiple contacts with Gegner over the last several years because of his daughter Brittany's truancy.

The judge also reminded Brian Gegner that he was aware of the consequences if he didn't stay on top of his daughter's education.

Brittany claimed her skipping at Fairfield high and Butler Tech became more frequent while she was living with her mother. The father was held responsible because he had custody and the problems started under his watch.

Niehaus also told Brian Gegner that when it comes to Brittany's education, the father, "abdicated his responsibilities as a parent."

Brittany is now 18, and said her father shouldn't be punished for her problems. Gegner was sentenced last week to six months in jail for contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

[Pat McCotter]

If daughter fails GED test, dad may go back to jail
Judge continues case until Nov. 3, when Fairfield teen must have her diploma or her father is sent to jail.

By Lauren Pack

Staff Writer

Thursday, July 17, 2008

HAMILTON — A Fairfield man whose stint behind bars because of his daughter's failure to attend school or get a GED caused a media stir in May was in court again Wednesday, July 16.

And Brian Gegner will go back to jail in November because his daughter still has not obtained her equivalency diploma, though she is trying to pass the test.

Gegner's daughter, Brittany, was not in court with her father, but Butler County Juvenile Judge David Neihaus heard from court personnel that the 18-year-old had attended court-ordered classes focusing on math, which is the section she needs to complete to earn a general education diploma.

Niehaus ordered the 40-year-old father on May 7 to serve a 180-day jail sentence for contributing to the delinquency of a minor because his daughter still failed to get a diploma after he was ordered months before to make sure Brittany got the GED in return for a suspended jail sentence.

The judge released Gegner a week later, but told him the deal was the same, his daughter must attend classes and obtain her GED.

The young woman did attend classes ordered by the judge until June 27, then took a math pre-test for the GED program. She failed by a few points, according to court personnel.

Niehaus said Wednesday, he will continue Gegner's case until Nov. 3, when she must have her diploma.

"The bottom line is he will spend the time (in jail)," Niehaus told Gegner and his attorney Tamara Sack. "I don't care what anyone says."

The judge noted Brittany is smart enough to learn, if she just attends classes and studies. He also stressed the importance of education.

"She never got the basics because she didn't attend school," Niehaus said.

Niehaus pointed out during the May hearing that records show Brittany only attended 20 percent of GED classes after she was warned her father would go to jail if she did not get the diploma. She only had 5 of the 24 credits needed for graduation at Fairfield High School before her mother, Shana Roach, signed her up for online classes at Butler Tech, which she also did not do.

Brittany said her father shouldn't be blamed because she has been living with her mother. Also, she said attending school and even the online classes was difficult because she was pregnant with her daughter.

Sack said the entire family has rallied around Brittany and is making sure she attends classes and coaching her in the evenings.

"She is very nervous about this," Sack said, noting she is aware her father's freedom rests on her shoulders. "She while have to work through those nerves."

The judge told Gegner. "you are doing a good job so far, let's get to the finishing line."

After the hearing, Gegner said, "I am still pushing Brittany."

[bouncer]

UNF***in real  that judge should be removed from the bench taken out and given twenty lashes for being stupid.

[freeborn]

Hey, it's OHIO, what did you expect?

Those idiots are the reason that the shrub is in the White House.

[Kat Kanning]

This is so wrong.

[Pat McCotter]

Jailed G.E.D. Dad now loses Child Support

Remember the story this past May about the Butler Co., Ohio father who was sentenced to six months in jail because his 18 yr old daughter failed to obtain her GED? Brian Gegner served ten days but only after a worldwide media and public outcry. He was released on the condition that his now 19 yr old daughter get her GED by November 3. The 170 remaining days are still hanging over Mr. Gegner's head.

The Judge in this case unexpectedly passed away this past summer. This is the same Judge who for years has been trying to get child support for Brian Gegner, who was the residential and custodial parent of his two daughters for the past 16 years. The biological Mom owes Mr. Gegner nearly $15,000 in back child support but has never spent a day in jail because of it. She tried for years to get Social Security Benefits for various excuses. She must have found the right excuse because she was finally awarded Social Security Benefits. The Judge ordered that Brian Gegner must be paid his back child support from some of this award.

However, as I stated earlier, the Judge passed away. In September, the biological mom went in front of a new Judge who ordered that the prior Judge's ruling that Mr. Gegner be paid with some of the Social Security money was "unenforceable", and since Mom was now getting Social Security she no longer owed the back child support of $14,000. She was given a clean slate! Brian Gegner has a 17 yr old daughter still living at home. Isn't it law that if a parent receives Social Security then their minor child does also? It's not the case here.

Brian Gegner will be facing this Judge concerning his remaining 170 days sentence for failure to see that his adult daughter got her GED. Will the Judge say the prior Judge's ruling is "unenforceable"? Who's to say, but it is a stressfull dark cloud hanging over him every day.

Does Mr. Gegner have bad luck or does it have something to do with gender and/or a lack of financial status. What do you think would happen if it were biological Mom in his shoes, and Dad owed the $14,000?

By the way, Mr. Gegner's 19 yr old daughter has passed the Math portion of the GED Pretest and will be attempting the GED test soon. She does not want to see her Dad go to jail again.

As for the child support, the father in this case has said it is not as much about the money as it is about accountability and responsibility on the biological mother's part. The only ones who can make her accountable sit high on a bench yet they have all failed to do so.

[AntonLee]

The Judge in this case unexpectedly passed away this past summer.

I usually don't try and say "good" to people dying but. . .