Deadbeat dad sent to prison, owes $300k

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – After skipping out on his children 14 years ago, a federal judge in Michigan has ordered a man to pay back his family here in Rhode Island.

In addition, Stephen Swallow will spend the next six months in a federal prison. When he is released, he will be on supervised probation for one year.

Eyewitness News Legal Analyst Lou Pulner calls Swallow the “most egregious deadbeat dad” he has ever seen.

“It’s despicable. Anyone who has four children and just abandons them with no forwarding address… it’s probably one of the worst things you can do,” Pulner said.

In total, Swallow was ordered to pay $323,569.67 in back support. Of that, just under 70% will be sent to his ex-wife, who raised all four of their children by herself. The rest, $80,908.96, will go to the state of Rhode Island as reimbursement for public assistance funds used by the family.